Movie Review: Dedh Ishqiya

Release date: 10th Jan 2014
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Rating: 4/5

It's unfortunate that the Saifai controversy has taken some sheen off the release of this brilliant work of art. For apart from the moral faux pas allegedly committed by the stars, there is little else to find fault with.

A review for a sequel (or a quasi stage for a sequel with the 1.5) would merit one to compare it to its predecessor. I remember the first one was a lovely entertainer in totality. Yet, apart from a dialogue or few, I have little recollection of the finer nuances of the movie - which is saying something considering just last night I was able to guess a rather old song from its first few notes and sing along, and it goes thus, "Chudi mazaa na degi... kangan mazaa na dega".

I must assure you that Dedh Ishqiya aapko zaroor mazaa degi. Betahasha mazaa. The mellifluous Urdu delivered by none other than the finest actors of our age Naseeruddin Shah have to rub off on its audience. It would help to know that the movie is extremely heavy on its Hindi and Urdu. But people who don't have Hindi as their mother tongue need not worry. We, the native Hindi speakers don't get a lot of it either. Hence, the filmmakers have been gracious to provide english subtitles. Distracting at times, but useful at most others.

Ok, so where do we start. The performances are exquisite. Everybody from the loud-mouth ruffian Arshad Warsi, the rather grey Huma Qureshi to the lanky, wannabe 'Nawab' Vijay Raaz delivers a very convincing performance. And then we come to good ol' Madhuri. Literally. There is no doubt age has started to show on her - the botox isn't helping, neither is the loud makeup. Yet grace does not wear away with age.

And this role was handcrafted for her. There are small dance sequences where you realize no other leading lady in Bollyland could have pulled this off. There are moments of romance between the aged Naseer and ageing Madhuri when there is no physicality, no words, hardly any music, yet the passion and longing is so intense, it makes your heart cringe.

The visuals are astute - the kind which make even cramped streets, ransacked dungeons and trash piles look wonderfully aesthetic. The dialogues are almost entirely in verse. There is so much in there for the die-hard romantics. Pick-up lines that you could only dream of coming up with. Exhortations of love that ricochet off your mind, your heart, your guts and well out from the eyes. And a special mention to those fine moments when Madhuri endearingly calls out Naseer by his name, almost killing him with fulfilment. "Iftekhar!", she utters. And you, in the audience, are swooning and wishing you were called that.

Well, I hope there are further instalments to this. I hope the Dedh is an indication of the Do to come. I hope our two vagabonds are back with another muse.