Perspective…Why #Queen...the movie, works for me

I’ve always admired stories of struggle, all kinds of struggle, as much with the shackles generated by the self as those of the world. I’ve been inspired by stories of being and becoming, of finding full potential, nay even those that tell of the struggles to surmount seemingly insurmountable obstacles, before the first steps toward liberation can be taken

I know that if one but stands still enough, one and see and hear these stories all around. In many ways each one of us has a coming of age, a finding of enlightenment story to tell, if only the world would hear.

We are after all but the many leaves of one tree, interconnected, similar, differ though we may in size and shape, in language and idiom.

Queen is one such tale, told with finesse and conviction. Its point of departure perfect, its trajectory true, it never, not once, loses focus. Many , many years ago, there was another rendering of another liberation and another finding. The story of Rose of the ‘Titanic’, told with splendor and skill, on a grand scale albeit in a different language  and idiom. In its essence it was the same as the idea explored in the ‘Queen”, that of a young woman shackled by patriarchal tradition, taught to believe in her own incompleteness, forbidden free thought and speech and taught, nay trained animal like, to behave in an appropriate fashion.

The human spirit wishes to break free and desires no structures imposed by the external world, that’s evident and therefore the indoctrination begins early, in the nascent years. There is an extremely poignant visual in the Titanic, of Rose watching with tears in her eyes as an infant girl is ‘taught’ to sit erect , fold her napkin right and use the ‘correct’ dinnerware. We learn to do to our children that which we may have resented when young and free, indeed it’s called  ‘socialisation’!!!Women bear a larger part of this civilizational load and in the Indian/Asian context this is particularly apparent.

It is this context that the film frames beautifully. Told in a light hearted manner, the metaphors are young and modern. The situations part of our daily lives, urban, mixed up modern, middle class India, realistically reproduced on screen. It’s the directors ship (#Vikas Behl) and he sails it safe into harbor to find a resting place in the mind and hearts of the audience. The casting is brilliant. #Kangana Ranaut, becomes Rani, she has the unique ability to forget the ethereal beauty of her physical self, that I think, enables her to put in an uninhibited performance, not the first, and certainly not the last. I look forward to many more such from her. It’s a delight to watch her glow, luminescent with inner light, as she walks away at last from all that inhibits her…that is indeed ‘the’ mantra one must aspire to live by.

I thought that the Japanese, Italian and Afro American characters, as the overseas expats  could have been cast with greater care, they come across as somewhat caricatured ,lacking in nuance.  Perhaps a few subtle details would have lent depth to the narrative.  However, it’s  a thoroughly engaging film, keeps the heart and the mind occupied!!

Vinny Jain

6/4/14