“All of his questions, such a
mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse
in the ground
So I like to keep my issues drawn
But it's always darkest before
the dawn
And it's hard to dance with a
devil on your back
And given half the chance would I
take any of it back
It's a fine romance but it's left
me so undone
It's always darkest before the
dawn
So Shake it Out, Shake it Out”
- Florence and the Machine
Last year, saw couple of magnificent movies that I can’t avoid
writing about. Key life philosophies beautifully form the intricate lining of
these. This song above probably best describes these 2 stunning works of art. So
here goes my Point of View on “Room” and “Masaan”.
“Room” is a
wonderfully touching movie which tells a story of an abducted girl(Joy) who
gives birth to her son in captivity..she is raped everyday by the kidnapper. When the boy(Jack) is five, she makes a plan of escape and the boy helps her execute the plan.
The rest of the movie hovers around how they cope (specially the boy who has
never seen any other human being) outside. This primarily covers the beauty of
a mother – child relationship. How wonderful and symbiotic the bond is, how
strong this makes a woman, how a child is entirely grown on a woman.
The plot of the movie is so unique, that it’s able to show
so many critical aspects of life-
- In captivity, they have access to a television. Jack is made to believe, that the world is real only in the room and rest exist only on TV. Only when he is five, he is told the truth and he has a hard time to fathom. Information / Wisdom come at the cost of Imagination. That’s why a child is a child. Lack of information is such bliss! All of us have gone through this moment in our Santa Claus truth time L. [On a different perspective, we know of this world exist on Earth! What if we come to know there is a different dimension and the larger world exists beyond that! The “Room” door symbolic to a wormhole? J ]
- There’s this instant when Jack first sees the open sky…This boy could realize having birth in this world is so beautiful .The rest of us take things for granted which are so key to living.
- Once Joy is being interviewed after she escaped, and the interviewer asks weird questions- she is asked why does she keep Jack with her for so long(till they both could escape) and doesn’t give away the child at birth? She answers the obvious- that she considered that’s the best for the child- to be with mom! The world is so full of such weird people who questions the obvious bond and gets away with it! But manages to put the bond in distress…In this movie, Joy attempts suicide that day.
- The interviewer also refers to the kidnapper as “father” to the child, but Joy denies that sternly. I so agree on that – not on this movie perspective, but largely as well. Donating a sperm (at will or accidentally) doesn’t make someone a father. It simply doesn’t. We shouldn’t even have a term called “Biological Father” .Then children of fathers with infertility issues, will have 2 fathers – is it?
- When Joy attempts suicide, Jack through his instinct finds out and they rush her to hospital at right moment. Jack has long hair as he believes he is like Samson and has his strength in his hair. He refuses to cut his hair even after escaping. But when Joy is in hospital after her suicide attempt, he cuts his hair and sends to her as he thinks his mum needs more strength than him! That’s how strong a mum-child bond is! A child can give away the world just to be with mother!
That’s how breathtaking the movie is in my point of view!
And I happened to see it with my four month old in my lap. It’s been the most
splendid experiences ever!
“Masaan” talks about Life After Death…in all its essence..be
it death of the physical body, death of love, death of time, death of belief,
death of motivation, death of life….The movie is shot in Benaras where its said
that if one leaves body, Moksha is achieved
.. it symbolizes that there is a beautiful life waiting after death…Death
doesn’t stop the powerful force of Soul…In the same way, a living body might
die several demise in a lifetime. However there is a good thing waiting after
every dark phase…
Vicky Kaushal is an amazing discovery in the movie. He is
part of a beautiful love story which dies an untimely death. And a parallel
story also undergoes turbulent times. But the two stories meet and there is
hope at the end.
And surprisingly in my life, I have seen this happening to
me and so many around. The best rewards in life are only lying beyond the dark
clouds. There’s always, always a silver lining!
[P.S. – Pardon the bullets. My job kills me!]
[Also one more movie in recent time which deserves a mention
is “Kapoor and Sons” – though commercial, this movie also talks about multiple
life aspects, the most critical being – how beautiful and perfect Life is with
all its imperfections!]
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