Three Movies, Two Women, One Story

26 Nov, 2024

My wife (Preeti) and I have opposite tastes in movies. She likes loud, historical, and mainstream movies, while I like subtle (not too subtle), contemporary, and indie movies that wear the garb of the mainstream. There are rare occasions when we both want to watch the same movie, which means we have to sit in each other’s movies, seeing the world go by scene by scene.

On Saturday, Preeti insisted we go to a Marathi movie, “Chhatrapati Sambhaji”. I did not want to watch it, and I even tried to see if I could watch another movie in the same theatre; however, Preeti shot that idea down. We have tried that before, and it worked beautifully. However, now it’s not possible as there is another woman in my life.

My daughter, Mudra, of course :)

Chhatrapati Sambhaji is a movie about the Maratha warrior and has been told many times by different people. The story is not new, but how it's made and maybe with a different perspective, they could have made it interesting. That was expecting too much from the makers.

It was a lazy, non-creative, pandering to the audience attempt, which had very little conviction except maybe in a few scenes.

Preeti loved the movie because she was the intended audience. She is invested in history and wants to recount the tale that has inspired millions of people.

I tried creative ways to go outside the theatre, but the movie was three hours long. There was no escaping it. I watched the first half of an EPL game during the movie. We finished the movie, which felt like a six-hour marathon, and went back to our home. I watched the highlights of a cricket match to clean my palette.

I am a sucker for well-made movies. When I see the critics I love praise a movie, they catch my attention. And when there are people who write prose that the movie will change your life (hyperbole, I know), I tell the universe, “Yes, I will watch it; you don’t need to sell it more”. This is an actual conversation I’ve had with the universe every time I get excited about watching a movie.

This time, it was about “All we imagine as light.” Since the day it won at Cannes and got rave reviews, I was excited to watch it. I had booked a solo ticket to watch it. I love watching movies alone; there is no better feeling than watching a movie on your own in a dark setting, forgetting the world you’ve inherited.

However, when I told Preeti about this movie, she became intrigued and wanted to go. I asked her, “Are you sure? This isn’t a mainstream movie.” I reluctantly booked the ticket for her, too.

Thanks to the Bengaluru traffic on Sunday, we got 20 minutes late to the show. Though we missed the movie's first few minutes, understanding the premise was not too difficult. A lot of visual poetry was going on, and the storytelling took the backseat. The movie did not work for me. I really wanted to like the movie. There were elements that I liked, but they did not click. I know this is not the kind of movie where you are told what to feel, but even if I wanted to feel, there was nothing that I connected to. The longing to belong, needing to own a place, and freedom to express love are universal, yet they did not permeate the screen as much as they should have.

Preeti and I laughed profusely at the abrupt end of the movie. I am sure the director had ulterior metaphorical meanings attached to the last scene, but we definitely were not in the mood to decipher and feel good about ourselves.

I am happy that we supported an indie movie even if we did not like it.

The best time to watch a movie is usually on a Monday. It's quiet, less busy, and you have the theatre to yourself. I don’t start work till 6 pm in the evening. I had to recover from the two bad movies I watched. “I Want to Talk” also got good reviews. I was sceptical. However, I had seen Shoorjit Sircar’s other movies and knew what to expect.

I believe that you should trust the director more than the actor when deciding what movies to watch. I booked the ticket a few hours before the show.

I went inside the theatre to find myself being the lone person inside a 30-seat space! Two more folks joined later, but it felt like a private screening.

I got lucky for the third time. This was a beautiful movie with the right storytelling, emotional core, and a bit of humour. It also helped that the story was essentially a father-daughter bonding story.

The movie explores mortality, dealing with loved ones, and going through life when you don’t have much going for yourself. The two hours went by like a breeze, and I came out of the show feeling good about the world.

Movies are a director’s medium. When the lights turn off and you are seated, you are giving the gift of undivided attention (except when you are watching football on the phone) for a few hours to the director. The director has the power to move you, entertain you, make you laugh and cry and, most importantly, forget that you have a life to get back to. Yes, movies are an escape; anyone saying otherwise is lying.