Amidst the run-a-round B-town productions, Ashqui looks like
slow food.
It starts with a song; and ends with one.
Star-crossed lovers, who are willing to die for each other;
but failing to be together.
Showers to bless the divine occasions.
And the right dose of
drama. Ashqui carries the element of Indian-ness that the contemporary
productions seem to have dumped for the convenient and invasive western-ness. Its
fragile frame does not try to contain anything that is too heavy or cinematically
complicated. Ashqui is easy to read, but hard to gulp down.
Ab Tum Hi Ho
A musical would have looked ill-timed in the rush. Yet, this
nails it right on the head. From the first no. till the curtain pulls, music enthralls
the viewer. There is a reason why movies are supposed to be viewed in theatres;
and for Ashqui- it is the score.
The melodies are those that keep replaying in the mind. They
were the very type that has musical notoriety to become a rage. And, then there
are lyrics that, if one cares to read between the lines, could give away the
entire story in a condensed version.
More than the title no. it is the opening song that carries
the viewer through the rest. There would have even been an acoustic version of
it, sung by Mr. Roy Kapur himself. (why? Why not?)
Ashiqui
The Kapoors, despite their different marks in the cinema, are
truly a couple. No one else could have brought out that much, in a company other
than what the viewer witnesses. Shraddha moves through the plot swiftly;
untainted and feather-weight. Only her quirkiness would have had more space
amidst the slots.
Aditya Roy Kapur
He drugs the viewer. This is an intoxication which leaves a
hangover that lasts for months or perhaps years. As much as his character gets
addicted to booze, the viewer gets addicted to Aditya; a kind of an addiction
that keeps one awake at the dead of the night.
He only has to shed that smile of his that reaches all the
way to his eyes; the rest falls into place. Yet, he is way more than a pretty
face. He struggles to stay in character. It is no easy acting the drunkard—specially
in the first solo lead. After all, many of his predecessors with lengthy years
of experience have got it wrong. After all, not everyone can be a Devdas. Even the
Shah of the Kingdom had a tinge of over-acting in his award-winning role.
No doubt, Shraddha is a gem, well-cut and constantly
polished. Yet it is Aditya who steals the show. It was no exaggeration when he
conceded that he felt he was the heroine of the movie. With the punch and verve
he brings in, he doesn’t deserve to be anything less.
Sadly, his sense of humour had gone waste. Yet, the
transformation from the food-prodding VJ to crazy curls to a pop-sensation,
which became half-truth in the wake of the movie, is truly heart-stopping.
The point is moot whether Aditya would still have the
limelight if the the story was a happily-ever-after. Probably, he would have still
aced through it; there would be no lacking of praise that is showered over him.
The critics of course would have shown a little bit more sharpness of fangs, in
the apparent absence of the need to sympathise.
Probably it is high time he sheds his immunity to romantics.
For in time to come, he is going to be tied up and be identified with it.
He clearly knows how to hold a guitar, a bottle and the
woman!
A poetic line or two would have made him the archetype. Whether
he would have liked it or not, is entirely another matter.
For, when it comes to Aditya Roy Kapur, he is the purest
form of poetry!
Bas yun hi....
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