Tamasha

Director: Imtiaz Ali
Writers: Imtiaz Ali
Stars:  Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Piyush Mishra
Runtime: 139 minutes
Strength: Acting, Music
Weakness: Story.
Rating: 2.5/5

Plot: Tamasha is about the journey of someone who has lost his edge in trying to behave according to socially acceptable conventions. The film is based on the central theme of abrasion and loss of self that happens in an attempt to fit in oneself back.

Review: Ved (Ranbir) and Tara (Deepika) swan around cluelessly in the first hour of the film, scene after scene in Corsica with picturesque bistros, colourful locals in fancy dresses, green countryside and sparkling blue waters. You find yourself wondering just how much more pointless it can get. And then, surprise, it gets better, and so do they. And 'Tamasha' becomes, somewhat, the film you presume Ali and his actors had set out to make. 

A demanding father sets Ved upon a path not of his own choosing, and the break-through comes when he meets the girl : the cocoon shatters, and the real Ved emerges, putting his yes-sir, no-sir, three-bags-full-sir robotic existence behind him, coming out into a world of light and imagination and magic. Those are the moments that make this film shine, and leave you smiling. There are flashes of the terrific actor that Ranbir can be, and that's a relief for the audience. Deepika is luminous, and she is much more sure-footed in her part. Ali puts forth a fairly radical idea as well: can the love that you feel when you are out of time, in exotic locales, survive a storm of ordinariness? We do get the answer, and they do leave us feeling warm and fuzzy, but it's not enough. That wasted, stretched introduction remains a problem. Despite its flaws, this is Ali's most complex story, teeming with ideas, and gives us Ranbir back again, along with the lovely Deepika, even if the plot keeps losing sight of her.

Reviewed by Mohaiminul Islam