4 Years Of Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha: Was Deepika Padukone’s Tara Just An Imaginary Muse To Ranbir Kapoor’s Ved?

Was Deepika Padukone’s Tara just an illusion for Ranbir Kapoor’s Ved in Tamasha? I know Imtiaz Ali must’ve had wild thoughts about his characters but can this be possible? The movie starts with Ranbir as a robot & Deepika as clown calling herself “Main hoon na! Iske dil ki aawaz” (I’m here, the voice of his heart). What if Tara is just a part of Ved’s story created by himself?

Amidst the clown & robot’s introduction, we see Tara saving Ved from falling and that’s where the title appears AND that’s where Imtiaz Ali registers the feel. We see kid Ved spending all of his pocket money in listening to the tales by a street-side storyteller. With every new story, he realises how they’re all the same.

Next thing we know we’re in Ved’s story which starts with ‘Teja Ka Sona’ where he meets Tara for the first time. “Andar kya hai kisse padi hai? Hoti reth hai, lagta paani” (Who cares about what are you hiding in your? She’s like a mirage, looks like water but it’s just sand). Here, Ved talks about Tara & how is she a mirage.

Just like Rockstar’s Naadan Parindey being a ‘request’ to Phir Se Udd Chala, here we’ve “Tere mere ishq ki yeh nayi kahaani,” (a new story of our love) from Chali Kahani acting as a base to the beginning of a love story in Matargashti. Corsica is Ved’s “pahado ke peeche wali duniya” (world behind the hills) as Jordan (Rockstar) had his world beneath a blanket.

When Tara finally reaches the Social where Ved might be, Imtiaz sneaks in a Graffiti writing that reads, “we should kiss now.” In my Rockstar’s article, we recollected an easter egg with “Line paas aa rahi hai” (line of control is approaching) moment but there’s more to it.

When Jordan proposes Heer in starting of Rockstar, he asks her if she’s completely sure about rejecting her and gets a sarcastic “Let me think, yes I’m sure” in return. When Tara rejects Ved after he confesses that he isn’t Don, she confirms in a similar manner that if he’s sure. Imtiaz, you did want us to notice this?

More easter eggs? When Ved says, “Ya toh Majnu ban jaao, kapde phaad ke raaste par chilao” (Else become this mad-lover who screams his heart out on the streets), he becomes a direct successor to Avinash Tiwary’s Qais from Laila Majnu. When Ved says, “Chalne wala tha nahi, jo baad mein hona tha, abhi ho gaya” (It wasn’t supposed to work out, she left sooner for better) is a direct reference to Shah Rukh Khan’s Harry from Jab Harry Met Sejal when he says on Sejal leaving him, “Paagal thi woh, jhalli thi…”

While AR Rahman weaves his magic with Tu Koi Aur Hai, during the line “Saamne is jahaan ke ik naqaab hai” (You are wearing a mask for the world) we see Ved cleaning off his shave which indicates that he is unmasking himself.

Also, what if ‘what happened in Corsica, stayed in Corsica’ and Tara never came back to Ved? What if Ved was writing a story for himself in which he ends up as Don? Why does no one see Tara crying in the iconic scene pre-Tum Saath Ho? Why Tara is always alone when she shifts from Kolkata to Delhi in the search of Ved? Why towards the end Ved didn’t invite Tara on the stage after kissing her while she was down? Is all of Ved’s life a Tamasha? A play in which Ved creates his own Tara? Is Tara Ved’s imaginary muse? Imtiaz also leaves a hint for this ambiguous ending when Don returns, in the end, and he says to Mata Hari, “Kahani shuru se sunata hoon.”

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