Review of Guzaarish (2010)...

It seems with Guzaarish, Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB) has come a full circle. Starting from Khamoshi-The Musical(1996) to the current Guzaarish(2010). Though, Khamoshi was not that impressive as a movie, it had some brilliant individual scenes which definitely were a class apart. From there SLB went on to improve with HDDCS and Devdas, before achieving immortality with Black. In Guzaarish again, there are multiple brilliant scenes which really sweep you from your feet, but when put together the movie has come out very ordinary. It is disappointing that a Director of the caliber as SLB has really not done justice to such a intense subject as Euthanasia (practice of ending a life in a manner which relieves pain and suffering).

The Movie is about Ethan Mascarenhas (Hrithik Roshan) a brilliant Magician and now a Quadriplegic, who during one of his shows met with an accident (which one later discovers was a sabotage) and is paralyzed neck down. Ethan is left with no movement or feelings in his body below the neck and has been in that state for 14 long years. He files for a petition in the court to be put to sleep for ever to relieve him from his misery and this is exactly where SLB has faltered. The way the whole petition process is handled is very amateur. Does not seem that part is at all directed by SLB himself. Though his petition keeps getting rejected, he does not give up and keep trying to get his right to die. There is Sofia (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) who is Ethan's care taker for the last 12 years and there is nothing that can happen in Ethan's life with out Sofia. Another angle added to the movie is of a budding magician, Omar Siddiqui (Aditya Roy Kapoor) who comes to Hrithik to learn his magic tricks and become the best magician in the world after Ethan. These three form the three pillars of the story along with some other characters, but frankly there is hardly anything to write about these other characters. There is Ethan's Mother, a lawyer, a doctor, a former girlfriend and a friend turned foe.

So then what makes this movie special? Its the scenes in which Ethan keeps going back to his magic shows, which are shot unbelievably. The pain that comes on his faces after remembering the kind of applause and adulation he once commanded and now he is constrained to a 5 by 6 feet bed with only a whistle to call for help. He is so helpless, that in one scene there is a Fly which is running on his nose and he is unable to do anything about it other than accepting it a part of his body and let her be. Really a touching scene. Then there is a fight that he has with the droplets of rains falling from his roof on his forehead, he ends up suffering that torture for the whole night helplessly. There are multiple such scenes which are brilliantly used to display the helpless truth of a quadriplegic's life. SLB has captured the helplessness of Ethan so beautifully that you cannot help but feel his pain yourself. The magic shows are done beautifully. Let us not get into the practicality of those, but just the whole execution of them along with Hrithik, it is simply Magical!!! Hrithik is just brilliant in his dance movements in all of them. Specially the one in which he is playing with a Bubble, and the whole dance sequence is at par with Hrithik performance in Lakshya (main aisa kyon hoon), or may be even better than that. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has done a very good job in playing the secondary role to Hrithik in the movie as his care taker and also his emotional bond with life (what ever of that is left within Ethan). She gets her moment of glory in a dance sequence "Mil Gayi" in which she just lets her hair down to blow everyone around. Now coming to Omar, the budding magician, while his role is very key, unfortunately the rendering of the same by Aditya Roy Kapoor is very inconsistent. He is good in some scene but really ordinary in most. SLB should have picked up someone else. If given a choice I would have gone with Sharman Joshi or Shriyas Talpade for that role instead of Aditya Roy Kapoor.

Coming to the Music of the movie, some songs are really good, like "Sau gram zindagi". Unfortunately the thing that took "Black" to being an immortal movie, its background music is a let down in Guzaarish. Again, this assessment is purely based on the comparison between Black and Guzaarish. Stand alone Guzaarish has a nice music, and aptly very few songs in the movie. The cinematography is beautiful, though most of the movie is shot in a single room, to which Ethan is restricted to. Its the magic shows that SLB comes into his elements and proves why he is definitely one of best directors that are there around currently.

Hrithik in his Avataar of a Quadriplegic is just magical. One cannot imagine anyone else who could have played this role more aptly than him. He is looking like a Greek god who has descended down to play this role with his beard look and long hair, only to return back to his clean shaven look. Wish we could have has a few more movies with Hrithik in such a look. There is hardly anyone in this Industry, who apart from Hrithik could have carried that look. Aishwarya is perfect fit for the care taker role. A special mention of Goa as being the third most impressive protagonist of this movie. The whole culture, the beautiful locations and the life that is very different from what is there in rest of India. The ending of the movie is something that is a point of view, with which many might disagree, but the whole thing has been handled nicely. It is a night in which Ethan celebrates Life!!! Hrithik is unbelievable in those last 10 mins again.

So then, should one spend 2.5 hours of their life on this movie, for sure YES. It is 2.5 hours well spent, with some magical moments that will stay with you for a long time, some magical performances that you will remember for a long time and some magical tricks, which will take your breath away for some time atleast. Please go and grab a Dekho of the movie as soon as possible and if possible on the Movie hall for sure, else on the DVD. That is a Guzaarish from my side...