DEDH ISHQIYA
DIRECTOR : ABHISHEK CHAUBEY
CAST : Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah, Huma Qureshi, Vijay Raaz, Manoj Pahwa
DURATION : 148 minutes
The oeuvre of 'Black Comedy' has always been a rarely used technique or genre in Indian cinema. The last memorable ones having perhaps been "Being Cyrus" and the prequel to this particular film, titled "Ishqiya". Traces of it have also been found in other films from Vishal Bharadwaj's banner (the producer of the film), the most apparent being "7 Khoon Maaf", and even "Maqbool" and "Omkara". In fact, most of the aforementioned films actually excel in this, and lay out the way for many more such ones to follow in succession.
Deceptively seeming a bi-product of its historical and temporal predecessors, "Dedh Ishqiya" is this and much much more. It would indeed be unfair to only classify it as a black comedy, confining it to a particular typecast genre, which makes it sound limited in scope and exhibition. And to do this, particularly in the context of the film being commented upon, would not only be a serious offence but a gruesome and heinous crime.
Indeed, the film packs in so much in its running time that the attentive viewer is actually left gasping in his attempt to grasp the sudden twists and turns in the unpredictable plot, that completely turns around in Half Two. The film, much like its parent venture, traces the adventures of the thief-duo on the run, Khalujan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi), in the UP hinterland. Half One lays out the conventional format of introducing the characters and charting out their movements, lives and intentions, all centering around the central theme of subterranean desires, motives and intentions. I don't wish to reveal the plot here, but only as much is relevant to my commentary. Khalujan wishes to be married to Begum Para (Madhuri Dixit), partly for money, and more for the 'Ishq' (love), as he claims to feel towards her. The royal, aristocratic Begum wishes to find a suitor for herself at the Swayamvar she organises. Babban sees through the deception and underlying motive of his partner in crime, and resolves to stop him and take him away, even threatening exposure. But his plans are foiled too, as he falls in love with the Begum's closest attendant and the second-in-command, Muniya (Huma Qureshi). All seems fairly well in the first half, with the Begum taking notice of 'Nawab Ifthekhar' alias Khalujan, and subtly expressing her approval of him and his poetry, fabulously executed in the mushaira scene in the film, despite Jaan Mohammad's (Vijay Raaz) attempts to foil his plans and move him out of the way with threats and trying to win over the Begum with poetry not his own. The Babban-Muniya romance is also given a logical progressive move in a kiss between the two showing their mutual affection.
So far, so good. Fairly conventional and predictable. But just as you begin to think that this is going to be another of those been there-done that adventure tales of love and escapades, there comes not only a twist but several of them, and it is here that the film proves how smart it has been all along. For it now makes the viewer realize how busy the director had been in creating that tinted lens through which to view the progress in the narrative, rendering us puppets inasmuch as we are so subsumed in the conventional build up of the tale, that we fail to notice the loopholes in it that could serve as possible entry points into the sudden turns to follow. Things go haywire and end up being just the reverse of what the film had set out to establish in the first half, brilliantly executed and excellently portrayed in all its logical consistency. The kidnapping plot of the Begum, the impotency (read inability) of Jaan Mohammad in salvaging the situation, the revelation of the larger motive of Khalujan, and the turnaround of Muniya with regard to her relationship with Babban, which assumes a purely utilitarian dimension. All these turns in the narrative are slow and gradual, none of them are sharp ones evoking loud exclamations from the audience, yet retaining its character as a thriller, and never ceasing to amaze.
One of the common but relevant themes in the film seems to be the appearance/reality divide, more so placed in the context allied with decadence and degeneracy. The gradual change and exposure of the Begum's character, in the context of the story from her tongue may well justify her actions, but it nevertheless succeeds in exposing the condition of the decadent nobility and aristocracy, and the redundancy of such baseless status and position in the modern world. A Begum who stages her own abduction for ulterior motives cannot very well be upbraided as an ideal, sought after, respectable figure, especially in modern society, where such institutions have lost their worth. Add to that elements of black humor, like choosing between I-Phone models and discussing DNA modifications and their possibilities, and all you have is a funny spoof on the fast declining, fading institutions of royalty and the aristocracy.
But if you thought that saying so much about the film is enough, you need to hold your breath, for the yeast that makes the bread what it is, is yet to be added and its importance underlined. The very essence and basis of the story lies in the element of same-sex bonding, sexual or non-sexual, for it is THIS that gives rise to the origin of the tale itself in the first place. We are told about the unhappy, neglected marital life of the Begum while with the Nawab, and the reason being that the Nawab has no interest in women at all. His life is centered around "laundebaazi" (yes, that is the exact word used in the film), highlighting his sexual relations with other men. The lonely and neglected Begum then finds solace in her closest companion, Muniya, and a very intimate, essentially female bond develops between the two. As to whether it is sexual in nature or not is something that needs to be determined individually,left open to interpretation of the viewer, though there are ample hints to that possibility. Drawing wholly from Ismat Chughtai's revolutionary short story, "Lihaaf" (The Quilt), the Begum Jan-Rabbu relationship seems replicated here, as the tale told by Para in the flashback seems adequately analogous to the former. The sexual nature is implied in the shadow play with the figures meeting, an embrace where Muniya runs past Babban towards Para inspite of the former having his arms open for her, and Khalujan's comment on seeing the two women, - "Lihaaf maang le" (ask for a quilt). But the exact nature of their companionship is left ambiguous. However, what is more important is the gynocentric, exclusively female space that is carved out in the process, where men are rejected in favor of a bonding of same sexes, which also bequeaths a feminist angle when Muniya 'dumps' Babban, stating firmly the difference between 'sex' and 'love', despite him having manhandled her earlier over attempting to play with his emotions. Even in the penultimate scene, the men let the two women part without them for company, as they possibly needed nothing more to complete their world.
The title of the film, too, has multiple possibilities when it comes to interpretation. The 'DEDH' could well be talking of the complete and the incomplete in alliance to each other, where the possible hint is towards examining (and possibly, deconstructing) the binaries of appearance versus reality, of socially approved heterosexual love versus homosexual love, or same-sex bonding or desire, the dynamic of the conventional versus the unconventional, and the possible versus the impossible, and so on. The title is never really explained in the film, and this is what makes it open-ended and free to allow whichever way we wish to mold it to, in terms of signification and possibilities.
The performances are certainly very well-executed. Naseeruddin Shah leaves nothing to be desired in terms of his acting and expressions, and plays his part to perfection. Arshad is perfect in his role as the funny man, with his superb comic timing and manner of dialogue delivery. Huma plays her role of the sinister character very well, and looks pretty, juggling disguises and masks, whether in the palace or outside. And for Madhuri, how I wish this had been her comeback film, and not the yawnathon, "Aaja Nachle". She is superb in the film, and portrays her role with perfect conviction, looking every bit an elite, aristocratic heir, from costumes to grace, from charms to her self-fashioning. Though marginally less convincing in terms of her performance post-interval, she nevertheless does a good job, and manages to hold the attention of the viewers. A special mention of her solo dance number, which is such a stunner, which needs to be seen to be appreciated in its essence and entirety.
It is an amalgamation of all these elements that makes this film a really dense and engaging watch, capable of holding the viewer in rapt attention, and watching the narrative unfold in all its complexities before him/her. Director Abhishek Chaubey shows how an thriller can be made without conventional tropes and stylistic devices like snazzy camera angles, consistent backstabbing, sharp twists and the like. The fact that he makes a conventional story turn around on its head and deliver it so convincingly, employing black humour and making it amply entertaining, truly deserves applause. In a sense, thus, the film makes a transition from the expression of sweet nothings in the first half, to "sweet" nothings in the second. For whether or not the film explains its own title; I certainly wish to explain the one heading my review, like I just did. And no, this is not open to interpretation.
