I have never been a fan of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, (who I'll call SLB for short) nor his brand of film making, ok maybe except for Black. Like his hero, @iHrithik, SLB too appears once in a while on the blue-black bollywood sky to showcase his story telling skill set.
And Lo! comes SLB in 2010 sashaying with Guraarish. Knowing who directed the movie, I would never have wanted to watch it. My idea of a movie is not jerking off, tears. I want to relax, enjoy the fun/action/mystery but tragedies are not my cup of tea/coffee/vodka. Nonetheless, Hrithik Roshan if one fine actor-dancer who I admire a lot. Aishwarya was never among the on screen lasses who I liked. But it was for Hrithik that I wanted to watch this flick.
What intrigued me was how would such a hunk of muscle & fine dancer be curbed & tied to not showcase what he'd got.
We get to know that Ethan Mascarenhas is a magician whose has had plenty of glory days & admiration. He has been Goa's favourite son. Something befell him & turned him into a quadriplegic, ahem thats Med jargon for being paralyzed in both arms & legs. Yes, Ehtan cant feel anything below his neck. Sophia is Ethan's dutiful nurse, nursing him for the past 12 years. She feeds him soup & garlic breadsticks; changes him; brushes him, both teeth & hair; looks beautiful as well and isn't willing to let any discomfort come over Ethan. Practically she runs his household & hasn't taken a single day's leave ever since being recruited despite having no family life & a abusing husband Nevile (Markand Deshpande).
Now being paralyzed even on a small part of the body is tough, but Ethan has fought & lived. He has written a book Learning to Fly which has inspired fellow quadriplegics. He hosts a show on Goa's FM radio which is about zindagi & living it to the fullest. In all, Ethan is happy & spreads the cheer around. His long unfulfilled wish is to see Sophia's long sexy legs & he's confident that when she comes wearing a mini skirt, he'll start walking again.
But is he really happy & cheerful? There's a part of him which wants to ends his life. He asks his unwilling, but helpful Lawyer friend, Devyani (Shernaz Patel) to file a petition in the Goa High Court. His long time Doc Dr. Nayak (@suhelseth in a surprising cast) isn't happy either. Sophia is red-bleary-eyed too because she reads Ethan's decision to him from a Newspaper. Well nobody wants Ethan to do 'Ethanasia'. He chooses to get a Vote on his show from the Goans whether he should end or not. His protege Omar Siddiqui (Aditya Roy Kapoor, who looks as if a cuckoo built it's nest on his head) doesn't want the Merlin Master to end it all either. Its an over whelming NO but there's an Yes from his erstwhile stunningly beautiful assistant Estella (Monikangana Dutta). She give an affirmative because she knows how much he has gone through.
Mamma Mascarenhas (still charmingly looking Nafisa Ali) doesn't stay with Ethan because he doesn't want her to, isn't among the affirmative lot. But she understand's her boy's pain. Thereby begins the legal quest to change India's justice system to accept the fact that whoever has a right to live dignified, has an equal right to choose to end it as well.
Hrithik has put in a marvelous performance. His bearded long haired looks doesn't make him any less good looking. He is too talented to not showcase his art even though he neither fights nor dances in this movie. His facial expressions convey the message and his dialogues are crisp as well. His discomfort can be felt when the leaky roof drops one drop at a time onto his forehead when he's sleeping. To my surprise Aishwarya has put in a grand performance in Hrithik's company. Her eyes talk so much more when she doesn't have any lines. She enacts well, moves gracefully & looks good too. Per me, this has been one among her better performances till date. Others in their bits & pieces do their job well. SLB is the music director as well and the music isn't much to write home about. Udi is foot tapping & has Aish dancing as well much to Ethan's amusement. I have a feeling that Hrithik has crooned in the scene of Maama Mascarenha's funeral, oh he has such a wonderful voice & it makes me want to listen more of him.
As with any other SLB movie, the lights are elaborate. But the dark gloom overrides it all. Goan splendor hasn't been showcased & apart from the large looming Mascarenhas villa nothing else is shown.
There are three scenes overall which struck me. Unable to feel anything neck down, Ethan oohs-aahs sensually when Sophia is massaging his legs & he continues even when she isn't massaging any longer. The leaky rooftop scene showed his true hold over his character. The public prosecutor isn't willing to accept Euthanasia & is arguing against it. Hrithik requests the judge to perform a magic trick & has the prosecutor closed for 60 seconds in a box. Few seconds into it, Rajit Kapoor starts banging & the judge gets panicky and Ethan is like you couldn't be Ethan Mascarenhas for 60 seconds and I was at it for 14 long years.
I don't know what is it with SLB that all his flicks have to tearjerkers. Hum Dil De Chuke was pure Aspirin stuff, Devdas had an alcoholic death, Black has diseases all around & now this. Dear SLB, my sincere Guzaarish is please...please...do something different next time.
And how does the movie end. Sophia agrees to marry Ethan, agrees to help him end his suffering, Ethan has a grand going away party with his chosen few friends & they merry all night in the last frame. So how did it end? Probably she showed him her long sexy legs & he died of shock!
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