Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi:The title of the movie, ‘Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi’, is an excerpt taken from the ghazal of the same title by Mirza Asadullah Khan, popularly known by his pseudonym as ‘Ghalib’. The most famous duplet (‘Sher’ as we know them popularly as) of the ghazal, which also is the opening duplet of the ghazal, is as follows:
“Hazaaron khwahishein aisi ki har khwahish pe dam niklebahut nikle mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle”
A crude translation of the above duplet would be – “...thousands of desires, each worth dying for...many of them I have realized...yet I yearn for more...”, and this meaning of the duplet or ‘sher’ parallels with the flow of events in the movie.
The movie begins with Pandit Nehru’s speech on the day of Indian Independence, showing him in a black and white movie snippet speaking the famous words ‘…on the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to light and freedom…’. The director then displays the message that after his death in the 60’s the baton was passed to his daughter, Indira Gandhi, and that the movie is about his imaginary siblings’ lives in those times, when India was pulled in a thousand directions.
The first half an hour of the movie gives a sneak peek into the college life of 70’s, and with such a frivolous ease but yet so believable and amiable way that one might fall in love with the portrayal of the college life then. The college life picture constitutes the rock n roll culture, the enthusiasm over the Naxalite movements, discussion of various prominent ideologies, passion to touch and live that affluent high class luxurious life and many other ideas with vibrant lustrous emotive colors. The posters of Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Plant gives an idea as to what a Delhi university student in that era must have in his mind. Students with bongs in their palms also give a hint of the Hippy culture having an impact on the students’ lives. The rest of the movie spans over the shows us the plight of not only those people who were directly involved in the movement but also of those who did not perform any act of violence.
The movie doesn’t answer the questions of ‘Why Naxalism’ or ‘Why violence as a method’, it merely shows the plight of the people trapped in this movement. It however does leave many a questions to ponder upon by the end of the movie.
“Hazaaron khwahishein aisi ki har khwahish pe dam niklebahut nikle mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle”
A crude translation of the above duplet would be – “...thousands of desires, each worth dying for...many of them I have realized...yet I yearn for more...”, and this meaning of the duplet or ‘sher’ parallels with the flow of events in the movie.
The movie begins with Pandit Nehru’s speech on the day of Indian Independence, showing him in a black and white movie snippet speaking the famous words ‘…on the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to light and freedom…’. The director then displays the message that after his death in the 60’s the baton was passed to his daughter, Indira Gandhi, and that the movie is about his imaginary siblings’ lives in those times, when India was pulled in a thousand directions.
The first half an hour of the movie gives a sneak peek into the college life of 70’s, and with such a frivolous ease but yet so believable and amiable way that one might fall in love with the portrayal of the college life then. The college life picture constitutes the rock n roll culture, the enthusiasm over the Naxalite movements, discussion of various prominent ideologies, passion to touch and live that affluent high class luxurious life and many other ideas with vibrant lustrous emotive colors. The posters of Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Plant gives an idea as to what a Delhi university student in that era must have in his mind. Students with bongs in their palms also give a hint of the Hippy culture having an impact on the students’ lives. The rest of the movie spans over the shows us the plight of not only those people who were directly involved in the movement but also of those who did not perform any act of violence.
The movie doesn’t answer the questions of ‘Why Naxalism’ or ‘Why violence as a method’, it merely shows the plight of the people trapped in this movement. It however does leave many a questions to ponder upon by the end of the movie.
It is the love story embedded in the movie which unravels it's intricacies along with the flow of the movie which says about the title. The protagonists of the movie have desires to mark their presence, be it the political arena or social arena, but they also have personal desires, their love interests. All the protagonists being ready to shed their lives for the fulfilment of their desires which are so different from each others.
Overall I would say I had a great movie experience with this movie. The movie shows us where we are coming from. Be it the issue of Naxalism, bureaucracy and corruption in government hierarchy, atrocious-autonomous police system, and political unrest, whatever we have today is just a continuation of the history we have had. The movie has covered one and all, giving us a question to ponder “Are we ever going to change?”
Overall I would say I had a great movie experience with this movie. The movie shows us where we are coming from. Be it the issue of Naxalism, bureaucracy and corruption in government hierarchy, atrocious-autonomous police system, and political unrest, whatever we have today is just a continuation of the history we have had. The movie has covered one and all, giving us a question to ponder “Are we ever going to change?”
My Rating: 8.5/10.0
2 comments:
For me the movie signifies all the possible human emotions:
Love, betryal, trust, treachery,selfishness and portrayed in the most beautiful manner.
And of course Swanand Kirkire's "Baawra Mann dekhane chala ek sapna"
Lovely Review!
@ninja
Of course sir the movie covers and conveys all the human emotions in a beautiful manner but in this context I would still rate 'Guide' a far better movie than this. 'Guide' not only paints a beautiful picture of all possible emotions it also shows all the phases of life love, punishment because of love and finally the moksha. Its simple awesome, love RK Narayan for giving us such a masterpiece and kudos to Vijay Anand for direction.
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