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In
the picture
The Last Lear***
*ing: Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Preity Zinta, Shefali
Shah, Divya Dutta
Director: Rituparno Ghosh
Tagline: Hearty. Eccentric. Passionate. Meet Harry. |
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The Last Lear, from acclaimed director Rituparno Ghosh, is another
stepping stone for Bollywood - which is now moving to films that exclusively
cater to a Western audience. The Last Lear, completely in English,
brings together some of the finest actors in India today in roles
that they have possibly never performed before.
The film begins on Diwali night, where actress Shabnam (Preity Zinta)
fights with her jealous boyfriend and runs off to meet someone she
met on a film set before she goes to the premiere of her film. The
film pans to the setting of the film premiere, where the reclusive
director Siddharth (Arjun Rampal) refuses to talk to the media, and
his brother Gautam (Jisshu Sengupta) stands looking at the movie poster.
Shabnam arrives at this 'friend's' house - to be greeted by a bitter
and angst ridden Vandana (Shefali Shah), and the audience discovers
her friend is bed ridden. Vandana slowly warms to Shabnam, and as
they sit around talking, the mystery of this patient being bedridden,
and how and why begins to unfold through a series of flashbacks through
the eyes of Vandana, Shabnam and Gautum begin to think back to where
it all started, and through this series of flashbacks one knows the
patient is actually Harry aka Harish (Amitabh), a veteran stage actor
who was approached by Siddharth to act in his film, and the story
of how he actually became bed ridden.
The Last Lear is an interesting film. It slowly draws you in and it
is only when Harry appears that the film begins to weave a plot. The
eccentric, dramatic Harry is larger than life in the film, but not
in the same way that Amitabh has been in his recent films. The character
Amitabh plays is a reminder of the years of his heyday, when the character
was more important than who Amitabh Bachchan is. Another surprise
in the film is how calm and collected Arjun Rampal is in his scenes
with Amitabh, he holds his own and perhaps that's another difference
between the Amitabh films of today and the '70s. Today's films are
more about characters than they are about one heroic protagonist that
is one actor who is also a superstar.
Harry is yet another interesting character - Amitabh plays an aging,
retired theatre veteran, who has great fondness for the theatre and
the art of the stage, he talks in the fluid pitch of a stage actor,
with low and high octaves. Sporting shoulder length white hair and
nursing a drink, he develops a rapport with Siddharth over watching
people urinate near his house's gate through a CCTV camera! Harry
is an incredibly passionate character: and that passion for acting,
for ensuring he is on top of his game as an actor is something that
is quite autobiographical for Amitabh Bachchan. Its also an interesting
change to watch him play the role of a theatre actor. As Harry he
criticizes cinema, saying 'the moment gets lost in your takes and
retakes' when he initially refuses Siddharth's offer to do a film.
Harry is obsessed with Shakespeare: he quotes Shakespeare at every
point, throws Gautam out of his house because he can't recall that
Oberon is a character from A Midsummer Night's Dream, coaxes Shabnam
to express her feelings by getting her to yell at the top of her voice
on the hillside, and waxes lyrical on the beauty of performing on
stage. Amitabh plays the role of a retiring, aging yet still child-like
curious actor to perfection. Even with all of the relationships the
characters have in the film, the most important aspect is how Harry
is interlinked to all of this. Till the last 20 minutes of the film
- it is still unclear as to why and how Harry has become bedridden,
and what Vandana's relationship with him is, why Shabnam is guilt-ridden
and visiting him and it also exposes the darkness of Siddharth's character.
But the ending 20 minutes are truly brilliant, and worth sitting through
the film for - because the first part of the film drags on between
dialogues and silences as the characters sit around. It is also in
this part that one understands the significance of the title - The
Last Lear - and it is here where the Shakespearian references taken
from King Lear itself come to light.
The Last Lear is not your stereotypical film. It is not for an audience
who wants to even see their favourite actors on celluloid - because
Amitabh, Arjun and Preity play the absolute antithesis of the roles
that they are normally known for. Rituparno Ghosh, who is touted as
the next Satyajt Ray and has made brilliant films like Raincoat and
Chokher Bali, proves that he can direct an English art-house film,
but The Last Lear still pales in comparison to the brilliance of the
Ajay Devgan-Aishwarya Rai starrer Raincoat. That said, The Last Lear
is a good film in its own standing.
But it is for an audience that enjoys theatre and Shakespeare, which
watches obtuse art-house films and will understand the subtleties
of The Last Lear.
– Saba Imtiaz
*YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****AWESOME
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