Star Cast: Saba Azad, Soni Razdan and others
Director: Danish Renzu
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What’s Bad: The execution and the casting
Loo Break: Not necessary, it is crisp.
Watch or Not?: Yes
Language: Hindi with a bit of Kashmiri, but subtitles help
Available On: Prime Video
Runtime: 1 hour & 47 minutes
User Rating:
“Aaj hum unhe sunenge jinki buland aawaaz vaadi ke goshe goshe mein goonj rahi hai. Azaadi ki awaaz, vaadi ki awaaz, gharon se dukaanon tak, baagon se maidaanon tak, khushboo, shabnam, itr, phool, dariya, jharne, pahaad, in sabki koi awaaz hoti to yahi hoti. Agar rooh ki koi awaaz hoti to yahi hoti. Agar dua ki koi awaaz hoti to yahi hoti to Noor Begum ki hi aawaaz hoti!” This is how Zeba is introduced in Songs Of Paradise.
Zeba – the first female singer of Kashmir, who is pen-named Noor Begum by a poet Azaad, who falls in love with her and decides to help Noor in her struggle to sing as per her will. The film is a tribute to the first female singer of Kashmir – Raj Begum, who sang almost 2000 songs live for the Radio of Kashmir. However, her entire work is lost in tragedies, some personal, some professional, and others natural!
The film marks Zeba’s struggle to become Noor. It is a struggle to live in a society where women are not allowed to sing and dance – the idea is shunned. The musical drama is set in two distinct periods – one led by Soni Razdan as Noor Begum where she narrates the story of Zeba played by Saba Azad and who difficult life she has lived to become what she is today!
Songs Of Paradise, without wasting time, sets the premise straight. Soni Razdan’s Noor Begum bumps into Taaruk Raina, who plays a music student from Berkley. He wants to tell Noor Begum’s story to the world, and we are introduced to a young Zeba, who sings because singing is her passion. Her journey to become Noor begins when she is spotted by her employer, Ustad Ji, and pushed towards the beautiful world of notes and beats. Zeba has a supportive father and a difficult mother, but she manages to keep everyone away from her musical world as she starts singing under a disguised identity!
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Saba Azad and Soni Razdan playing Noor Begum is, honestly, the weakest link of the film. The tonal quality of their performances, in one word, can be defined as flat! Saba Azad herself is a singer, but she looks anything but a singer while she leads the scenes where she is practicing, recording, or doing anything related to music! Her facial expressions are stoned, and I do not understand why! I have very little knowledge about the Kashmiri accent, but all I can figure out is that everyone is too focused on the film to get the accent right. So much so that after a point, it seems like some foreigners are stuffed in Kashmir and being forced to talk in that accent!
Soni Razdan plays the older version of Saba Azad but two women and their dialects are world apart. So much so that if one does not tell, you might never figure out that they are the same woman! Probably this beautiful film might have worked for me with a better cast!
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Helmed by Danish Renzu, the film is an ode to all the women who dared to dream when they were not allowed to. Women who dared to barge into territories of men and own it. Women who were submissive to their parents out of respect, but women who did not shy away from dreaming and building a world of their own. Women who defined ‘Azaadi’ in the true sense!
The best part of the film is its music. Although after a point it gets into a never-ending loop. I mean, I agree that Kashmiri music is incomplete without Rabab, but the use of Rabab is too narrow, and after the film ends, you cannot remember a single melody. No, it is not because of the language barrier. I bet, you must have remembered phrases like Rind Posh maal, Bhumbro, Madno, the moment you listened to it. It was because of the distinct appeal these songs and the phrases had. Songs Of Paradise fails to create even one such piece that stays in your heart, despite giving out bundles of beautiful melodies!
While the film is a beautiful tribute, its execution stumbles horribly. The biggest flaw is the pace and the premise itself. Everything is so flat and toned down that you will struggle to find struggles in a film about struggle! I mean, how can a maximum struggle in a Kashmiri woman’s life, who dares to sing, be her mother? Seriously?
The narrative, in its attempt to cover a lifetime of events, often skims over crucial conflicts, leading to resolutions that are too convenient and easy. A woman who dares to enter men’s world, including their washroom, does not face any oppression or difficulties from them? Whatever she points out as wrong is accepted by the men whose thought process she challenges! I mean, I understand music heals, but not like this. The sudden changes of heart of all the secondary characters in the film are hilarious and an insult to the struggle of a woman who must have sacrificed a lot to reach that position! And this is why a film that is poetic fails disastrously for me!
I cannot relate to a struggle story, where I keep asking myself – Dikkat kya hai? Problem kahaan hai?
In different scenes, Noor Begum is told, “Jisko kisi ne suna nahi wo aawaaz nahi afwaah hai.” The same goes for the struggles in the film. However, her father in one of the scenes, tells her, “Koshish karne par to sabka haq hai,” and I agree with his vision! The film should be watched because it is an important film. And the effort to make such an important film should be appreciated.
2.5 stars.
For more such movie reviews, stay tuned to Koimoi.
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