SPOILER ALERT: It is
needless to, but I feel myself bound to remind the humble reader not to expect any
form of apology from the writer in the circumstance that their suspense regarding
the titular film is ruined by the write-up that follows.
I have liked to call myself an agnostic for quite a while
now; my religious inclinations have only ebbed as I’ve moved away from the zero
point of my conception. Consequently, then, my faith in a ‘paranormal’ realm has
also declined in its resolution. I have found reason and belief in the supernatural
to be antithetical stances. I do not see how one can prevail with amity alongside
the other.
It is always difficult for me to dissociate in all entirety
the gist of an artwork from the way the artist executes it, in whatever form of
entertainment or art it be. For those who argue that there isn’t much (or any) difference
between the two, I would like to draw their attention to the entire body of
work of Quentin Tarantino. None of his films (barring Jackie Brown and
Inglourious Basterds) have ever had the story as the centrepiece: it is, of
course, an important feature but not the most
important characteristic. Reservoir Dogs had a sparkling script as its USP;
Pulp Fiction had its snappy, gold-wrought dialogues and path-breaking editing
and Kill Bill had plain badassery working wonders for it.
Bottomline being that it is never an easy task to dissect a
film solely on the basis of one of the two: content or execution. Talaash, a film that was marketed as a dark, neo-noir
police procedural, presented a similar problem to me, not as a scrutinizing
critic but as an average popcorn moviegoer.
Before trudging the path of criticism, I shall set the
definitions of two terms I will be liberal in the use of in the paragraphs that
follow, more for the purpose of self-reference than anything else:
1.
par·a·nor·mal/ˌparəˈnôrməl/
Adjective: Denoting events or phenomena
such as telekinesis or clairvoyance that are beyond the scope of normal
scientific understanding.
2.
su·per·nat·u·ral/ˌso͞opərˈnaCH(ə)rəl/
Adjective: (of a manifestation or event)
Attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.
It is evident from these definitions that paranormal or
supernatural activity is that which is inexplicable by the scientific resources
of the day. What is not very evident, and must hence be brought to the fore, is
the fact that supernatural occurrences are said to function even beyond the ‘laws
of nature’. Now, the difference between something that is outside the realm of
present scientific body of knowledge and the very laws of nature is that the
latter bracket is inclusive of everything. By everything I mean everything: known or unknown, discovered
or undiscovered, within the reach of science or without.
Science is ever-changing, or as I like to put it, ever-growing.
Every passing day sees science exceed itself, resulting in a knowledge bank of
humanity that never shies away from addition, subtraction or correction. The
beauty of a scientific hypothesis is that it is only considered true unless
proven false. The laws of nature, however, have existed and will exist for each
and every one of us, whether we know of them or not. Mankind’s knowledge of
nature does not have any effect on its laws. Hence, when someone claims to have
experienced a supernatural phenomenon, they are implying that the very laws of
nature have been breached. Not only is it unexplainable by the current yardstick
of science, it transcends the very nature of our being, our universe. This
claim is one which I find very hard to stomach as a logical human being.
Returning to my original point (the difficulty of judging execution
and content exclusively), Aamir Khan-starrer Talaash comes across as a perfect
example of the dilemma. It deals with the clever machinations of a conspiring
departed soul who exacts revenge from her perpetrators by getting them killed
one by one. On her path to vengeance, she encounters a mortal anguished by a
personal tragedy and, being the golden hearted spirit that she is, helps him
come out of its clutches to live a normal, consummate life.
My biggest problem with the film is that it takes itself
very seriously; it actually aims to pose pertinent questions regarding the
potency of supernatural phenomenon such as communication with dead souls through
séances, vagrant departed souls being able to assume humaniform and so on. It
assumes the afterworld to be a very palpable and communicable state of being.
It talks of it as a place existing within the ambit of the laws of nature, in
fact functioning under a very steadfast set of rules of its own. It does to
afterlife what Inception did to the world of our dreams. It defines, or tries
to define the particulars of afterlife.
If it had been marketed not as an intense police procedural
but as a supernatural thriller, I would have enjoyed it much more. I would
rather be shorn of a contrived ‘twist’ ending instead of feeling cheated by the
promotional tactics employed by the producers of the film.
Having said that, I found the ‘execution’ of the film very mature
and deftly handled. All the scenes were technically impeccable; some sequences were
masterfully choreographed and enacted. Nawazuddin Siddique’s character (of
Kahaani and Gangs of Wasseypur fame) endeared me the most, and his story arc
was gripping and deserving of a short film of its own. Till the last moment, I had
hopes high for a Scooby Doo-esque climax, where all the supernatural elements
in the story turn out to be red herrings, revealed to be mere cheap devices in
the villain’s grand plot to subvert the situation to his benefit. Again, it is
possible that my own expectations with the film worked against me, but these
expectations weren’t ungrounded after all. They were as a result of a clever
publicity tactic to make the film appear to be a grim detective thriller while
it was something else completely.
 |
| Demand attention it will. |
To put it in a nutshell, Talaash is a strictly good film. It
will keep the viewers on the edge of their seats, demand their rapt attention,
grow on them even hours after they’ve left the dimmed cinema hall for good. It
will invite passionate discussions, arguments, and verbal squabbles from one
and all. It will occupy college canteen chit-chat, industry buzz, kitty party
banter and facebook dissection, all because it is audacious enough to merge the
natural and supernatural, almost making the two appear seamless.
I will conclude with Arthur C. Clarke’s timeless words:
“Any sufficiently
advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
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