Two films reviewed : The road less travelled and the road best not travelled

Over the weekend, I had the chance of seeing two films - Aiyya and English Vinglish. Both films feature a woman as the central character and are helmed by debutante directors. Both, incidentally, have Marathi households as their cinematic background. And the music for both has been scored by Amit Trivedi (of Dev D fame). That’s where the similarities end, though. Directors Gauri Shinde and Sachin Kundalkar (both Marathi) have made diametrically opposite films, both in terms of story and quality.
 

Before I proceed to postulate why Aiyyaa leads nominations for the Worst Film of the Year, I’ll concede that it’s not entirely bad. Rani, for instance, plays the part of the filmi, scent-obsessed Marathi girl with perfection. The music is competent, with songs like ‘Aga Bai’ and ‘Sava Dollar’ superbly choreographed. There are flashes of brilliance in the cinematography too – especially in the climax when Meenaxi discovers the secret of Surya’s scent. None of this saves the film from being one torturous, poorly-directed mish-mash of ‘wakda’ plotlines.

It’s not like we don’t seen films with wacky, out-of-this-world characters. Pick any Rohit Shetty or Anees Bazmee film, and nearly all the side characters are there solely for comic relief. Aiyyaa goes wrong because all the characters, including Meenaxi range from mildly crazed to raving lunatics. Father who smokes 4 cigarettes at a time? Check. Grandmother with gold fillings in all her teeth? Check. Librarian who wears leather jackets, miniskirts, fur and police tape (!)? Check. 

Prithviraj’s Surya is perhaps the only person in the film who stays sane – and that’s only because he has barely any dialogues (an utter waste of the talented Mallu superstar). At the end of the Aiyyaa, Meenaxi’s father remarks “Pata nahi ye sapna hai ya sachai”. My feelings were exactly the same throughout the film – Aiyyaa was like a bad dream I couldn’t wake up from.

Cut to Sridevi’s successful comeback film. English Vinglish is one of those examples of filmmaking at its elementary best. There are no gimmicks here – it’s just the story of a simple, but intelligent housewife’s quest for respect from her family.

I must admit that I was intensely sceptical of watching veteran actor Sridevi on screen. Truth be told, I’m not all that exposed to cinema from before I was born, so the “aura of the star Sridevi” was a bit lost to me. But even though this film is inhabited with completely normal, everyday characters, Sridevi portrays the character of the hesitant, yet quietly assertive Shashi with grace, charm and a sparkling brilliance that makes the film a treat to watch.

It’s true that the English classes bit in the film borrows from the Mind Your Language/ Zabaan Sambhalke milieu of having characters from various backgrounds and languages. You could say that the South Indian NRI techie is over-the-top, but the rest of the cast – especially the children – made me forget words like “hamming” and “screaming” that Aiyyaa had filled my head with.

English Vinglish, for me, was a story of courage – both in terms of the character finding respect in spite of being in an alien country, and in terms of a film winning at the Box-office despite not having an A-list hero and a big budget.

I am now hoping that Sridevi continues to act in Bollywood films, Rani Mukherji acts in good Bollywood films (Talaash was a step in the right direction) and that Prithviraj actually gets to act in his next Bollywood film.