History repeats itself. Especially if it's About Amir Khan's movie... In him, the Indian film industry has found someone who, with merely his name, can pull the mass and the class to the theatre. Let it be Ghulam or Sarfarosh, Rang de basanti or the latest sensation, Taare Zameen par. Who would have imagined such a big success on box office for a movie that revolved around a boy (played by a boy new to silver screen) and has the hero(!) entering after interval.
Was it a gamble? The question haunted me for some time. My wife answered the question partially. In her opinion AK has sensitivity to emotions, remarkable acumen in business and willingness to give 100% to what he does. Agreed. However, in my opinion there is one more thing that has played a major role in TZP's grand success.
We all know that we are imperfect. We all have one or the other shortcoming that cannot be overcome. We all fight our own battles because of this throughout our lives. Some are won. Some aren’t. Various factors affecting the outcome. What I want to stress upon is that we could see ourselves in Ishan. We could see our wish to be accepted by our near and dear ones. As we are. without any correction. With love. As I said it may not happen every time. In TZP, we saw it happening. We saw Ishan winning. We saw ourselves winning. We liked it. We loved it.
This is one big thing AK has proved time and again. His ability to show that the Victorian does not have to be extra ordinary. He can be just one of us. The victory does not have to be only against some villain's empire. It can be against our very own inability or shortcoming. Amitabh had done it earlier in a big way. In a 'larger than life" way. His protagonist fought against the mill owners to show the common mill worker that his dreams can come true. The anger that was suppressed in the hearts of masses, found outlet in the Vijay's played by AB.
The viewer is much matured now. He finds those physical fights entertaining but unrealistic. He wants the hero to win in the kind of situations he lives in. He wants the hero win against the corporate stress. He wants the hero to win against problems like his own. Dyslexia is just one name to it. One form of it. What do you think how many families who praised the movie, have someone facing dyslexia? Undoubtedly AK has brought a burning issue forward that needs something to be done about but let’s not limit the message to its literal meaning. "Chak De" showed that WE can win. TZP showed us, "WE CAN IF WE THINK WE CAN".
Vinayak Pednekar
