Bueno, pues vuelvo desde mi 'retiro' de los últimos meses con la ficha de una de las películas más esperadas por mi parte, no ya dentro del cine indio, sino en general.
Y es que si ponemos en la misma coctelera al que sea posiblemente el mejor director
independiente de la India actual, Rituparno Ghosh (
Raincoat,
Chokher Bali), al gran Amitabh Bachchan (en la que todos dicen es su mejor interpretación) y al maestro William Shakespeare... lo que puede salir es únicamente algo grande. Más todavía si además se cuenta con la presencia de Preity Zinta y Arjun Rampal.
No esperéis tiros o persecuciones... ni siquiera pegadizas canciones ni coreografías preciosistas. Estamos ante una obra de tempo lento, pausada, en la que personajes y diálogos tienen todo el protagonismo. ¡A disfrutarla!
Harry – 65. Recluse, Eccentric. Passionate. Besides being a Shakespearean stage actor and an ardent fan of The Master, his life seems like a play after he meets Siddharth. A play replete with action, drama, love, emotions, tension – and an expected friendship. Siddharth is a new-age film director – his cool clothes and casual persona well disguise his eccentricities. He is a visionary, a visionary who would stop at nothing to get what he wants. As opposites attract, may be likeminded people get along well too. How else would one explain the fast blossoming friendship between these two eccentrically creative minds? When the cinema-ignorant Harry is offered a magnificent role in Siddharths' next film, he is apprehensive at first, reluctant later and finally acceptable to the idea.
As the shoot takes them to the sprawling mountainous landscapes of India, new relationships bloom. Upcoming actor Shabnam, who is struggling hard to cope with her messy personal life, finds an unexpected mentor in Harry. He teaches her more than merely the nuances of acting.
From being a complete outsider to the world of commercial cinema, Harry soon becomes one of them – open to learning new methods of working, chatting with the unit members and sipping tea from a fancy thermos he never knew was invented, he is enjoying!
Little does he know that as the film rolls and he gets into the skin of the character of the Joker that he is playing, he may be taking his role a bit too seriously. Is he that good an actor, or is Fate really making him out to be a Joker on the set? As the intense moments unfold, which are even more engaging that the film itself, masks would be taken off a few faces. Towards the sunset of his life, long after the last shot is taken, as his memory fades, all that Harry can remember are his Masters words...
...I am doubtful as I am mainly ignorant,
What place is this, And the skill I have
Remembers not these garments, nor I know not
Where did I lodge last night,
Do not laugh at me...
