Guzaarish (2010)

Guzaarish is an ambitious film, no less than we would expect from a director like Sanjay Leela Bhansali who treats cinema as art and whose passion for his art shines through every frame of his films. It deals with the controversial issue of euthanasia or mercy killing. Guzaarish chronicles the petition to be allowed to die by a man who has been paralysed from the neck down for 14 years. It is a somber topic but it has been treated with great panache and even beauty. The film is visually absolutely sumptuous, from the marvelous baroque interiors to the styling of the cast. Unfortunately the film suffers somewhat from a surfeit of style over substance, a flaw that is to some extent typical of Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

The film is set in Goa and tells the story of Ethan Macarenas, a fantastically gifted magician who is left paralysed by an accident during one of his acts. He responds by fighting his disability as well as he can, writing an inspirational book and hosting a radio show that exhorts people to make the most of life. At the time of the start of the film however, Ethan’s organs have started to fail and he wants to be allowed to die with dignity. Having endured 14 years of having even his most intimate bodily functions seen to by a nurse, he feels he cannot endure the protracted failure of what remains of his body. The film deals with the reactions of the public at large as well as those of the people closest to him; his nurse, his lawyer friend, his doctor and his mother. Comic relief is provided by a young magician who infiltrates Ethan’s household hoping to learn magic from him.

The film may not do wonderfully at the box office because it will not appeal to the lowest common denominator. Furthermore there is so much English dialogue in the film that mass audiences may be put off. However, come awards time, Guzaarish is bound to figure strongly is many categories.

Hrithik plays a difficult role extremely well. His portrayal of Macarenas’ despair, anger, bitterness and ironic joie de vivre is inspired, especially considering that he is restricted to using only his face to act with and the entire gamut of body language is denied to him. With a few facial muscles, he evinces subtle emotions as he is forced to lie helpless while his nurse Sofia cares for his lifeless body. His on-screen chemistry with Ashwariya, who plays his long-time nurse Sofia, is electric and their suppressed passion for each other shines from the screen. Hrithik’s sequences in his flashbacks to his magic acts are simply sublime, masterpieces of the film-makers art. That said, there are times where his delivery could have been better and moments where he is clearly let down by the dialogue.

Ashwariya herself has done well, with one of her best performances to date. Moreover, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is someone who really knows how to make Ashwariya’s beauty work well on the screen. She is a gorgeous woman who generally looks good on-screen but Bhansali is director to makes the camera love Ashwariya. She looks extraordinary and even her silent care of Ethan oozes both compassion and passion. Her styling is somewhat over-the-top for a nurse but Sanjay Leela Bhansali has never bowed to realism in his story telling. Ashwariya’s role and look reflect his vision of Sofia and Ethan’s story.

The supporting cast does well with the script and Nafisa Ali is extraordinary as Hrithik’s mother. Her speech about who has a right over Ethan’s life is one of the highlights of the film. The main problem with the film is a lack of cohesiveness. The film moves slowly but towards the end there are too many seemingly disparate threads showing the way fortune buffets Ethan. The courtroom scenes seem underwritten and lack the depth needed to tackle the topic at hand. Similarly the climax is bewildering. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has thrown lots of pathos into the story, to the point where some scenes fail to touch because they seem contrived, and yet he chooses an upbeat finale that is staggering in its artificiality. Thankfully he is not the type to bow to the cliché of a miraculous recovery. Nevertheless the ending seemed labored. The poignancy of the situation between Ethan and Sofia could have created a moment as powerful as the denouement of The English Patient. Instead the audience is left disappointed by the weak ending.

Despite these weaknesses, I would nevertheless recommend Guzaarish. It is one of Bhansali’s better films, unlike the debacle that was Sawaariya. Despite the ending, the story is well told, compelling and intriguing. The movie will appeal to audiences with sophisticated tastes. Moreover it is worth seeing simply to appreciate Sundeep K Chatterjee’s breathtaking cinematography. The film is visually appealing in ways that few films ever attain, even western ones. The accident scene alone is worth the price of admission, more so than many crowd-pulling item numbers. The acting is some of the best we have seen this year and some of the scenes from Guzaarish will undoubtedly rank among the highlights of the cinematic year. Definitely worth a view – Salima Feerasta

Rating – 3.5  out of 5

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2010, Genre – Drama/Romance, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer –Ronnie Screwvala, Director –Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Music Director – Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Cast - Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Rajit Kapoor, Shernaz Patel, Nafisa Ali, Suhel Seth, Vijay Crishna, Monikangana Dutta, Ash Chandler, Makrand Deshpande, Sanjay Lafont, Jineet Rath