Tamasha

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars (Two and half stars)

Star Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone

Director: Imtiaz Ali

What’s Good: The lead pair of Tamasha, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padkone shine in this story which portrays both the absence and presence of love in the most unique manner. The highlight of Tamasha is it’s characters and the inner conflicts they deal with.

What’s Bad: In spite of the caption ‘Why Always The Same Story’, Imtiaz repeats himself and digs deeper into his style of storytelling. In certain portions, Tamasha is like Jab We Met meets Rockstar and that’s what disappoints as the film does not elevate itself from his previous works.

Loo Break: You Could Use One!

Watch or Not?:  Tamasha is certainly a one time watch! It is a typical Imtiaz Ali film and hence you cannot go with an expectation of watching a frothy romance. Dealing with the concept of love in a cryptic form, this film will not appeal to everyone. It is not the kind of film you want to enjoy snacking on popcorn.

User Rating: 

The storytelling in Tamasha is non-linear. We start off with a young Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) who is addicted to listening stories sitting under a tree from an old man in the quiet evenings of Shimla. He has an overbearing father, who expects him to focus in school and has carved out a conventional life for him but Ved seems to enjoy his fantasy world.

After a few years, we are straight taken to the picturesque location of Corsica, France where Tara (Deepika Padukone) meets Ved. Noticing her in a problem, Ved volunteers to help her and in turn asks her to maintain their meeting as a fictitious event and not let reality ruin it. Thus Ved and Tara meet as Don and Mona Darling and have a crazy trip together. As expected, cupid strikes at the wrong moment and Tara falls in love with Ved. Before leaving Corsica and considering it their last meet, Tara kisses Ved goodbye.

Four years later, Tara is still obsessing over him and moves to Delhi for work. In a hope to find him, she awaits his presence at a cafe, she expects him to see at since she learns about his frequent visits there in Corsica. Once Ved arrives, the duo meet each other for real and start dating. On spending ,more time together, Tara realizes Ved is a different person altogether and turns down his engagement proposal.

Will this be the end of Tara and Ved’s love story or is there something more to them is what lies ahead!

Tamasha Review: Script Analysis

Imitiaz Ali is known for showing us the darker side of love stories and this is what he does once again. Not easy to digest, Tamasha too is a story of Ved’s ambivalence towards Tara. Even though at the core, Tamasha is a love story, mid way it touches too many angles. The crux of it all comes to the distance between the two main spheres of life being ‘Dil’ and ‘Duniya’. The underlined themes of monotony, gloom, absence of love, freedom run through the film.

Ved’s character is multi-layered. As Don, he may be crazy as hell, mouthing corny dialogues, his other side is stark opposite. A byproduct of civilization and societal pressure, he is like a machine set in motion. Towards the second half, when we are introduced to Ved’s distinct nature, it comes across as though he has a personality disorder. Imtiaz is trying to show how anxiety can take over a person and how it controls him but it lacks clarity and many may find this sudden neurotic break down of Ved mind boggling.

Tara on the other hand seems an emotionally difficult person. She is obsessing over someone whom she met years back in a role-playing act and yet she is certain that it is love. Other side characters in the film such as Ved’s Punjabi boss and even his father seem too gimmicky. The only light moments in the film are when Ved and Tara meet at Corsica but unfortunately their conversations are too juvenile. Also one would wonder, why Ved cannot put his foot down and explore his life from there on, rather than going back to his monotonous job and conventional father.

After a strangely riveting story, the climax comes across as a sheer disappointment and is the epitome of predictability.

Imtiaz offers a wide array of emotions in the plot, yet only a few strike the right chords.

Tamasha Review: Star Performance

Ranbir Kapoor is an actor with a great potential and unfortunately is always played down because of the scripts. Tamasha offers him a great deal. He fits perfectly for Imtiaz’s Ved and portrays the angst with full vigor. He impresses with his transitions from being the well-behaved robot to a possessed actor.

Deepika Padukone as Tara does a fine job. She excels in certain scenes such as the one where she bids adieu to Ved from Corsica. The moment she sits in the car, her expression of being sad and happy at the same moment is so apt that you know she has come far as an actress. The initial scenes from their role-playing act in Corsica seem a little overdone and at some points, Deepika looks extremely smitten by Ranbir or should we say Ved which seems a little unnecessary.

Piyush Mishra becomes the interesting storyteller who paints Ved’s childhood. The actor has fine oratory skills and hence fits the bill perfectly.