#Two States, the movie....Delightful!!!

  

Arjun Kapoor as Krish Malhotra

Alia Bhatt as Ananya Swaminathan

 Ronit Roy as Vikram Malhotra – Krish's Father

  Amrita Singh as Kavita Malhotra – Krish's Mother

 Shiv Kumar Subramanian Shiv Swaminathan – Ananya’s Father

Sharang Natarajan as Manjunath Swaminathan – Ananya’s Brother

Ankit Chitral as Krish's friend

Revathi  as Radha Swaminathan – Ananya's Mother

Direction : abhishek Varmann

  

She : what will you do after graduation

He: I want to be a writer

She: what will you write about?

He: don’t know, simple stories about people like you and me, anything simple, where the story is the hero…

Dear Chetan Bhagat/ Abhishek Varmann,

(I don’t know who this ought to be addressed to, you seem to blend together!),

I did not read the book…sawwryyy!! 

I don’t need to now, do I? For we have this beautiful teleporting of one genre into another, seldom achieved, so effectively delivered with Two States. My mother and I went to the movies last night and bought ourselves some rather sweet delight!!

Chetan you do write simple stories, nuanced nevertheless, and Abhishek for a debutante that is a masterpiece you’ve delivered…more please !!!

You have control over your craft and must have an extraordinarily mature head on your young shoulders. Which is a characteristic of both the leading protagonists of the film, essayed effortlessly by Alia and Arjun. That extraordinary ability to identify ones demons and effectively exorcise them, how did you manage that at such a young age Chetan?

I like first person renderings of narratives, there is something deeply personal about them, as if one were being granted a rather special privilege to peek into the inner domain of a tormented soul. Krish's ( Arjun) torment, repressed angst, poignantly portrayed in the troubled relationship with his father, is intimate sharing bordering on the sacrosanct. Ronit Roy’s outstanding performance, manages the difficult task of portraying frustration and angst in a manner that is essentially lovable. The screen comes alive with the father son interaction, just as much as it does with the intelligently portrayed love story. Alia Bhatt is searingly brilliant, waif like,She is such a fiery, sparkling bundle of ignitable talent!!!

The poignant part where Krish (or is that you, Chetan?) tells his shrink the story of his fathers visit to Chennai , an unannounced visit to the Tamilian family of his sons desired mate, in order to make the marriage come about, brilliantly told!!

Krish (Arjun) : us raat main unko gale lagana chahta tha,  Par kuch Jyada ho jaata !! (that night I wanted to hug him,but perhaps it would have been a bit much)

That’s wisdom!! I often err on the side of excess :-P and bring about my own misfortunes!!

Ronit  succeeds marvelously in essaying the journey the father makes, from the misdirected anger of a troubled, fractured, tormented soul, to full realization of the pain that his actions are causing without, for his loved ones, and his self effacing attempts to make amends…that’s an extraordinarily controlled performance.

Yes we are a multicultural country, a political entity inhabited by diverse peoples, and yes my parents too made similar choices. I grew up the richer for that in body and soul. The film overtly portrays a situation where the cultural differences seem insurmountable, (of the Punjabis and the Tamilians in this case) but covertly conveys the truth that love is almost always enough. It is strong enough to create a world of peace , where multiple identities are all acceptable, for stripped of our cultural markers in flesh and sinew we are all human after all. the tamilians as well as the punjabees true to stereotype, quirky and quaint intheir own ways.
do you still use the old model typewriter, Chetan? my father did too and i have it still...that was used very subtly to depict creative idiosyncrasy i thought!

That’s a wise old soul you have Chetan or shall I say Abhishek ?!!

Shankar Ehsan and Loy were such a wise choice too. The music lingers and I cannot get these two mesmerizing numbers out of my head!!

Kudos, and more please!!!!I am thrilled that Indian cinema is coming of age!!!

PS : Chetan , could you put me in touch with your Shrink? I have more than a few demons , I could use the help in exorcising them !!!!

vinny jain

20/4/14