While
watching the trailer of the much anticipated Shahrukh Khan starrer 'Zero', I
noticed the scene where the character of Bauua Singh is seen dancing
enthusiastically on Chikni Chameli, he then throws his hat towards the screen.
That reminded me of the way Aanand L Rai has been depicting single screen
theaters in his films, which in some way I feel reflects a symbolic attitude
along with the cultural influences of cinema on his characters, which are small
town people with conflicts, people with desires, people who are looking for
love, people who are trying to make it big in their life, people who wants
stability, people who desires to live their life, and not merely let it pass
away, as Bauua Singh says "Zindagi Katni kisse thi, Hame toh Jeeni thi".
The scenes where characters are seen watching a movie in a single screen are
not necessarily plot changing scenes; they are added merely as a subtle tribute
to the impact of cinema on the lives of people coming from a small town.
I
am quite intrigued by the collaboration between Shahrukh Khan and Aanand L Rai,
simply because we have an icon, who has shaped an entire country's perception
towards romance for the last three decades, along with a man who has
successfully portrayed the nuances of small town stories and its people through
his films. When I saw Shahrukh Khan's character dancing inside a single screen
theatre, I found that moment amusing, because Mr. Rai will now be directing a
man, who has given dreams and hope to millions of people over the years that
life and love are meant to be larger than life and cinematic in its
representation, that man will now be seen as a character which might have
originated out of those of millions of people. Surely, it's not happening for
the first time, but I can sense a poetic ecstasy in this collaboration.
In
Tanu Weds Manu, We see Jassi and group watch Sooraj Barjatya's "Hum Saath
Saath Hain", where Tanu asks Manu out for a date, it's a small
conversation but it's depicting the importance of going to watch a movie in
small town, and that too when a wedding is around the corner. The very essence
of Kapurthala is captured beautifully in the film. Tanu
at one point asks Manu to shake a leg like Hrithik, while in the sequel we see
Manu sarcastically refers to himself as Hrithik Roshan.
In Raanjhanaa, Kundan
and Murari watch Lawrence D'Souza's "Saajan" in a single theatre, and
while Kundan is thinking about the kind of sacrifice Sanjay Dutt is making on
the big screen, he is brought back to reality by Murari, who then shouts on top
of his voice "Sanju", there is certain relatable feeling in that
scene, we have been a part of that screaming protagonist name process, while drawing
parallel to the scene or situation of that character to our own lives, there is
nothing melodramatic about that, that is just the power and influence cinema
has constructed over the time in our minds about expressing our love to
someone. In "Tanu Weds Manu Returns", we see Raja and Tanu getting
back together, they go and watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Ram Leela"
in a single theatre, and later on Chintu mentions it to Tanu's father that a
matinee show of Aashiqui 2 is being watched at Gunjan Theater.
The
impact that quintessential Hindi films has made on the mindset of people living
in a small town is without a doubt infectious. For example, in Tanu Weds Manu
Returns, there are two instances I found where Datto and Pappi refer to Manu as
Shahrukh Khan, whereas in Raanjhanaa we see Kundan comparing Zoya with Katrina
Kaif, it's almost as if these actors represent that reference point of larger
than life romance, and hence that's probably why every single romantic move
coming out from a small town guy is bound to label him as Shahrukh Khan. These
little instances does indicate the fact that Aanand L Rai’s characters
originated from small town should convey some part of their daily lives through
the references of popular Hindi films.
Single
screen theaters constituted an important part of my upbringing, for small town
people like me, going to a single screen meant an event like feel. The dark
hall provided a sort of rescue from the cynicism and despair of the outer
world, once the darkness of the hall took over, there was no other distraction
to attribute our mind to, there used to be a certain aura in that dark hall, a
feeling of complete encapsulation by what we saw on the big screen. The
whistles, hooting and clapping at punchlines, and Aanand L Rai has perfectly
captured that madness in his films. The series of clipart narrating the film,
and specifically highlighting the interval point, when the lights turned on
during the interval, it almost felt that we are taken back to reality very abruptly.
Not
that Shahrukh Khan hasn't played the small town common guy before, remember
Sunil from Kundan Shah's “Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa”, yes that Sunil with whom we
can so easily relate with, he had imperfections, flaws, had certain daydream
driven notions about love. The Raj, Rahul came much later, and became cult, and
during the time period that those characters were becoming the important part
of mainstream Hindi films, we became so fascinated with those charming, larger
than life personalities, that we have forgotten that he could so effortlessly
transform himself into Sunil. This is no way reflects that I am trying to draw
a parallel line between Sunil and Bauua, he might and should definitely turn
out into an altogether different character, my point is that I am trying to
connect certain dots between the cinematic world of Aanand L Rai, Small town
people, Single Screens, and Shahrukh Khan, (if it exists) and I might not
present a perfect rationale to this theory, but just the idea of it sounds so
interesting, and worth discussing. A writer, whom I follow on Twitter (@AbbakkaHypatia)
told me few months back that the way Sunil looks at Anna during the 'Ae Kash Ke
Hum' song is kind of reflective of our own romantic side, and that sense of
relativity is what makes him a superstar of its own kind, because a common man
can certainly be a Shahrukh Khan of his own world, that discussion somehow
stayed with me, and it made me think how valuable and precious the presence of
Shahrukh Khan has been in our lives.
The
trailer of Zero gives me that hope that once I am done watching the film, I’ll
be able to connect the missing points in between these entities.
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