"I express my personal anguish in my cinema" says Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and indeed the central theme of all his films is the pain and passion of physically or emotionally flawed individuals attempting to connect across vast psychological and spatial distances. Khamoshi, Bhansali's debut film was about a daughter trying hard to bridge the communication chasm with her deaf-mute parents. His next two films were more Bollywood mainstream: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, a lighter and frothier love story that dealt with the complexities of infatuation and separation, and the musical extravaganza Devdas, a lavishly executed portrayal of unfulfilled romance and tragedy. Then came Black, a stark, intimate psycho-drama about a deaf and blind girl and her obsessive teacher, and finally Saawariya, a moody, lyrical fairy tale of unrequited love based on Dostoevsky's White Nights. While all his films have had their share of awards and accolades, Bhansali has often been accused of being over-ostentatious, pretentious and self-indulgent. His films, say critics, suffer from being "too heavily designed", are "all atmosphere and no soul" and result in "wearying, cloying melodrama". I would like to offer another opinion.I believe Bhansali is one of the freshest and finest talents of Bollywood, a trend-setter unafraid to continually challenge himself. He has clearly mastered the craft of film making, and references a breath of work from V. Shantaram and Raj Kapoor, to Bertolucci and Baz Luhrmann. He demonstrates an impeccable feel for visual design, consistently producing films that are sumptuously ravishing; the rich architecture of Gujarat in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, the ornate havelis and costumes of Devdas' Calcutta, and the alluring fantastical city in Saawariya that combines elements of Mumbai, Venice and Istanbul. Even his harshest critics agree that his use of lighting and color is extraordinary, whether the rainbow palette of Devdas or the completely monochromatic Saawariya where the exclusive use of blues intensifies the mysteriousness and melancholy of the protagonists. His ear for music is pitch-perfect, allowing carefully crafted melodies to perfectly compliment his aesthetics rather than distract from the filmic medium. The sound tracks of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Saawariya have been phenomenally successful and as a trained Odissi dancer, his eye for choreography has been keen. Who can forget Madhuri and Aishwarya in the stunning song and dance sequence of Devdas' Dola Re? The soundtracks in his films, sometimes as many as fourteen, are always poetic and integrated into the narrative perfectly. Yet, while music is an obvious strength he bravely chose to make Black without a single song, path-breaking for mainstream Bollywood cinema.
Which brings me to what I must say in defense of Saawariya. Universally panned by critics and audiences as "repetitive, sentimental, cliched", and "an underwhelming waste", to me, it was a cinematic poem. Like the best evocative poetry, it was high on atmosphere, concentrating on evoking a mood and tone as the deliberately stylized sets as indicat
ed in the graphics above, added to the strangeness and mystery of the narrative. Any attempts to slot the film by genre or time seem irrelevant as Bhansali's camera steers seductively through a city that could be anywhere, in a setting that could be decades ago, or present day, unwinding a timeless story of love that is universal.About his lack of restraint Bhansali has said "I was born and brought up in Bombay where people shout at each other from windows of flats on opposite sides of the street. I belong to a community with a loud lifestyle. You cannot expect dignity, propriety, control and detachment from me. I cannot make a film without melodrama." Yet he has consistently brought a high standard of aesthetics to his human interest stories, marrying high-brow art with the pointedly commercial, and creating almost an entirely new genre for Bollywood. His pluck in hurling himself in new directions is most recently evidenced in his latest venture the French opera ballet Padmavati, as seen in the illustration above, that opened in Paris and was given a fifteen minute standing ovation. Bhansali directed an entirely French cast and crew through an interpreter and worked seamlessly with a hundred member orchestra and a sixty member choir. By all means it was a vintage Bhansali- a story of pathos (an Indian queen dying for honor and dignity) told in breathtaking visuals, dazzling colors, brilliant choreography and superb performances.
Back in Bombay, fresh from his success, Bhansali said in The Times of India, "All my pain over Saawariya has been washed away", perhaps in reaction to the tasteless digs made by hosts Saif Ali Khan and Shahrukh Khan about Sanjay "Neela (Blue)" Bhansali at the 53rd Annual Filmfare Awards. Few Bollywood directors can boast of such a rich body of varied, creative productions and I believe that every one of his forgivably flawed films is a future classic. His work, like fine wine, must be savored as a sensuous experience, in its entirety, where the whole is far greater than the sum of its constituent parts. Analyzing the contribution of each separate component serves only to diminish from the total phenomenon. Generations of forthcoming film majors will be studying his work and paying respect to his special aesthetic. What we should do in the present is leave him alone to innovate, experiment and push the boundaries of what is, and allow him to show us what can be.
1 comment:
I thoroughly enjoyed your post on Bhansali and defending his work. You analyze the issues critics have with his extravagance in film so well that I, someone very unfamiliar with Bollywood, was able to completely understand. You were also able to defend him quite rationally. Your description of his film, Saawariya, and the connection between Bhansali's over-the-top style was very convincing. Your point that the story was like a cinematic poem, and therefore demanding the same level of extravagance is quite correct. It is Bhansali's duty as the director to allow the mood of the film to penetrate to the audience as much as possible, so choosing to do so stylistically is very acceptable. The quote you included about Bhansali's upbringing is quite interesting in understanding the choices he makes as a director. Using that quote made your argument much more convincing. After reading it, I understood that Bhansali was not trying to be over the top to stand out, but as you explain, is purely expressing himself in the only way he knows. Although I have little understanding of the film-making process, I do know that a director is meant to have a particular style that adheres with the films and stories he chooses to work with. In Bhansali's case, you describe the film Saawariya as poetic, universal, and dramatic, so it is applicable for a director with a loud and strange upbringing to add his touch on enlivening the story. Those who criticize his work, like you said, should merely accept it as a new perspective or angle that Bollywood can expand to. There does not need to be one way in this growing cinema enterprise. On the contrary, the more styles and directors there are, the wider audience Bollywood can reach.
Although I completely agree with your stance on Bhansali's position in Bollywood, it would have been interesting if you explored the other side of the debate a little more. While Bhansali may be exploring a new type of Bollywood film, it is also important that the film is attractive to its main audience. The film, Saawariya, did not do well in the box office. Rather than going completely over the top, Bhansali may need to consider slowly introducing his style to the Bollywood audience so that they may grow a liking to him. While his artistic perspective and self expression is important in his films, he must also consider pleasing his audience. While I understand that for many, directing is not for the money but for the pleasure of doing so, the movie business relies on profit. If he does not focus on pleasing the crowd and making a profit by toning down his extravagance, he may never get far in Bollywood.
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