Haider

“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale” are Shakespeare’s eternal words describing the ageless beauty, Cleopatra. These words are equally true of his own work too. It is a fairly well accepted notion of great art that it transcends time and space. In Hindi, it is said that uttam sahitya desh aur kal ki seema se pare hota hai. The work of Shakespeare, more than anybody’s work, transcends time and space and certainly qualifies for great art.

The greatest art goes one step further. It is not only timeless but is relived again and again. It is retold by various artists in the same medium as well in different ones. The Ramayan and the Mahabharat are such great works. They have been retold by artists in numerous languages. Ramleela is played every year. I do not know how many movies we have made from the stories of Ramayan and Mahabharat. The plays of Shakespeare have been retold many times. Hundreds of movies and television programs have been based on his work.

Why does that happen? The pundits of art can have different theories. My layman’s theory is this: Life, as stated by J. Krishnamurthy, exists in relationships. Our relationships with other human and non-human beings, with our emotions and institutions. The relationship of good with evil, with each other, and with ourselves. And so on. The greatest art goes deep into us and reveals a part of us that we otherwise do not realize. That deep insight cannot be allowed to die and it has to be relived. With every good retelling it becomes fresher.

Vishal Bhardwaj has made three attempts at adapting the stories of Shakespeare for a feature film. Maqbool, Onkara and the latest one is Haider, based on Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet respectively. In Maqbool and Onkara Vishal Bhardwaj was almost close to what Francis Ford Coppola had done to the Godfather of Mario Puzo. These two movies telling the stories of goons of Mumbai and the Hindi heartland touched some deep and raw nerves.

Thereafter to see Vishal Bhardwaj in steep decline at such a young age in Kaminey, Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola and Haider is painful. His lack of understanding of the issues and the emotions that he is dealing with is seriously exposed though he still has command over his medium.

In Haider, on one large canvas of the political issue of Kashmir Conflict he tries to paint a smaller emotional conflict arising from the Oedipus complex. The personal conflict of love and hate, greed and renunciation played out in the backdrop of big political battles have produced some of the best literary achievements such as Julius Caesar, War and Peace, and Mahabharat. In these books the dualism of love and hate, good and evil within and without suddenly takes you beyond them and they cease to be stories and become treatises of philosophy.

However, in attempting to do so in Haider perhaps Vishal Bhardwaj bites off much more than he can chew. The result is not a soulful Jugalbandi but a confused mishmash with some silver linings.

Tabu, count on her to light up the silver screen with her dusky face and husky voice in any role expressing numerous subtle expressions. In Haider, torn apart by her love for three men- her husband, son and brother-in-law who later becomes her second husband, she does justice to a challenging role. As always, Kay KayMenon is good as a scheming lawyer/ lover.

Shahid Kapoor who has a meaty role delivers a performance which you will have if Parthiv Patel was asked to bat against Vasim Akram, Waqar Yunus and Shoeb Akhtar. His dealing of the emotional conflict with his mother whom he is supposed to love and hate in accordance with the plot is childish. His political outpourings can compete with Rahul Gandhi’s political speeches. Delivered by somebody who has mugged up the lines but has no idea of their meaning.

Vishal Bhardawaj’s understanding and portrayal of the Kashmir conflict is borrowed straightaway from Arundhati Roy, without her flair for language of course.  There is no original attempt to understand the nuances and various shades of this deeply tragic political issue.

However, he saves his worst for essaying the sexual tension between the mother Tabu and son Shahid. Oedipus complex, a very complex and rare phenomenon, would challenge any artist. I do not expect Vishal Bhardawaj to be original on such difficult issues but at least he should have been able to use the art of understatement, ambiguity and leaving more meaningful things unsaid. Hamlet has more of a son unable to digest his mother’s sexuality after she is widowed. Oedipus complex in Hamlet is almost invisible. Vishal overdoes almost everything on this issue and it comes across as unpleasant.

And so is the mediocrity of this film made by one of our most acclaimed film makers. The film reflects poorly on Vishal and it reflects poorly on our intellectual life. What kind of artists are we producing if one of our best is producing Haider after having already botched up Kaminey and Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola?

Our crisis, as a society is not only a crisis of institutions facing bankruptcy, poverty, unemployment, polluted land, water and air. It is deeper. It is the poverty of intellect and the pollution of culture that should really worry us. It explains how somebody can win the national elections by talking about shahjadas, topphies and balloons. A Hindi author had said about central Bihar “Magadh me vichar ki kami hai–(There is a draught of intellect/thought in Magadh)”. Where all do we apply this?

PS: I must admit that as a long time Vishal Bhardwaj fan, my expectations from this talented movie maker are always high. Therefore I might have been harsher on him and the movie does have its good moments.