Daag gone to the Dogs? Not really

This is on the film "Laaga Chunari Main Daag" - my first ever attempt

The movie is predictable. Yes the movie is an overdrive of being an emotional saga. The movie is formatted and is as typically “ghisa pita” as they make it.

It’s the same glamorous star cast, the routine locales and sets, the small town-big town tussle – it’s all what a regular Yash Raj banner would make, rather what any Bollywood masala movie worth its salt would be made of.

For the critiques, maybe even a 2 star would actually be a little too generous and for the cynics, the movie would be a write off the minute it starts with a song, and a mundane one at that, depicting the naive Banaras girls.

But maybe there’s still something in it for us regular folks to watch and walk out of the theatre with mixed feelings because some where, something in the film has touched a chord.

Somewhere between the emotions and the mega drama, the struggle of a mother seems recognizable. Somewhere, the innocent yet deep relationship of two sisters, where the elder is so protective of the younger that the younger almost always oblivious of the goings-on, touches the heart. The depiction of Mumbai is to the T and the music of course is strong and fairly enjoyable.

As the description of the film goes, it is the journey of a woman from innocence to acceptance (of the harshness of life), but what is noteworthy is the way Sarkar has interspersed this journey of the protagonist (Rani) with that of the other women in the film as well (Jaya and Konkana).

As Rani is confronting reality in Mumbai, Jaya’s helplessness is beautifully depicted – helplessness of a mother who knows her daughter is subjecting herself to the unethical and yet cannot stop her because money is after all the fulcrum of everybody’s existence. Jaya has acted as any mother would react.

Similarly, the adolescent Konkana is shown to suddenly grow up when she confronts her sister’s reality and this is done in a prolific manner. That moment is one of the strongest in the film where two women on different platforms suddenly get tied to one thread of understanding – an understanding that is not blended with any sort of disgust or sympathy. It is a moment of plain truth which is why it is probably one of the few pristine moments in the film.

Thrown in the middle of this entire struggle are nuances of human nature, its vulnerability, sometimes juvenile, sometimes completely in control. Rani and Konkana have done an outstanding job. I know many will cringe at this statement, but if there is one actor who could have carried this role out well, it’s Rani. For all her “always crying Indian woman” image, she has managed to transform from the innocent to the worldly wise, from a simpleton to a sexbomb, from an impulsive ‘I want to prove a point’ to a mature ‘there is no point to prove after all’.

So while it’s a 10 on 10 for the women, Sarkar failed to do much with the men, or maybe that was the plan. Anupam Kher is spineless and Abhishek Bacchan is non-existent. Kunal Kapoor is the only saving grace here – quick, charming and oh so good looking, even the men folk need to thank him for his dimpled smile.

Anyway to cut a long story short, the film is worth a watch. I mean why do we even come to watch a Bollywood flick? If we expect revolutionary eye openers, then it’s us setting false expectations. Laaga Chunri Main Daag is a regular film that has its strong and weak moments.

It has beautiful sets (Sarkar even goes International so as not to miss out on this), pretty clothes, good music, attractive faces on screen and a strong interplay of emotions. The only unreal part of the film is its Happy Ending. Like there are no free lunches in the world, there are no Happy Endings in real life. Really, who are we kidding here?