“We all learn over the years - with years passing by and wrinkles covering our face, we all are called experienced individuals. We all are expected to have certain level of eminence even in terms of our everyday. Isn’t it?” Wouldn’t you expect a person to improve with every act? Haven’t you yourself have ensured that you don’t repeat a mistake which you have committed once in your life time? Yes we all expect this from others and we do ensure that we all grow up with time and we do not commit the same mistake again and again. But unlike many of us Journalist-turned-author-turned filmmaker Mr. Jayabrato Chatterjee doesn’t believe in learning from past mistakes. After his first big time disaster at the box office named “Kehkashan” which was released in 1985 he took 23 years to come out of the hibernation to deliver another hopeless movie called “Love Songs – yesterday today and tomorrow”. We saw him yesterday, we watched him today but we aren’t sure if we will ever watch him tomorrow (In Future).
It’s not that I haven’t sat through a movie alone in the theater of 200 seating capacity. I remember it well that “Yugpurush (1998)” and “Zubeida(2001)” are two good movies which I have watched sitting with close to 5 -6 people. But I have never repented sitting alone because parallel cinema is something I have enjoyed understanding rather living along with the character for two and half or three hours. When I rushed to grab my seat for the 10 PM show of Sunday night I saw only 8 people in the movie hall who smiled at me with a look which said “did we land here by mistake” or “we pray the movie should be good”. I wasn’t bothered at all because I had a certain level of assurance given my favorite legendary actors “Jaya Bachchan” and “Om Puri” was sharing the script together. But what I got was only disappointment.
Love Songs is a story about three generations as the punch line of the movie suggests “yesterday, today and tomorrow” its about Mridula (Jaya Bachchan), her daughter Palaash (Shahana Chatterjee) and Grandson Rohan (Prithviraj Choudhury). Rohan is back after finishing his law from Bangalore and one fine day he ends up digging his granny’s (Mridula) past which disturbs him completely. He starts connecting pieces of the past and what all has happened between her granny and his dead mother with the help of his girl friend (Tara). Rohan gets to know that his mother was no good and never shared a good relationship with his granny who had raised him single handedly and made him what he is today.
Story and Screenplay: the script is so slackly written that you will never understand what exactly the writer is trying to communicate with the script. You will be left pondering what the crux of the whole cinema is?. The script has no connection between scenes and it feels like a narration of faded dream dreamt by a drunkard. Even if you are fall into those “off beat” cinema lover, don’t try to understand and analyze the story line and what’s the intension it was made with. Rather the best option is to ask “Mr. Scriptwriter” to give it as a disclaimer even before the movie starts that “Please don’t try to figure out what this movie is all about”
Characters and Actors: Characters of the movies, I have serious question here “If they all are required by any chance?” getting down to few important character and actors who played it.
Mridula Chatterjee– played by Jaya Bachchan is the main character and the whole movie revolves around her. She plays a role of a widow who has struggled all her life, was misunderstood by her daughter and sacrificed her love towards Aftaab Jaafrey (Om Puri) for the sake of her daughter and grandson rohan. Jaya Bachchan has done what she has been asked for but do we expect this from her after years of refined work and contribution that she has done to Indian cinema. Her talent is exhaustively wasted and I should give the credit to our dear director for the same.
Palaash – played by Australia returned Shahana Chatterjee is another important role that has been portrayed with complete struggle. I wondered throughout the movie why she was chosen for the role. After my research I got to know that the Miss Shahana Chaterjee is none other than our own director Jayabrato Chatterjee’s daughter who is making her debut with this film after learning dance and drama in Australia (No wonder she has done pathetically perfect role in an Indian movie). Her voice really compliments her acting skills which will give you a feel of watching a ghost movie.
Rohan and Tara – the teenage couple played by Prithviraj Choudhury and Doel Basu (Jyoti Basu’s grand-daughter) respectively, will not disappoint you at all because they have ensured that they act equally bad as the senior actors and ensure that this movie remains the hopeless movie. Rohan has successfully maintained his similar expression in happy and sad scenes. Tara, has just one word to say in every other scene “COME” and we should thank the scriptwriter for that.
Other casts in the cinema are not even worth talking about because two of the good artist in the movie Om puri and Rajit Kapoor wrap up within two scenes because they have nothing to deliver. We should salute Jayabrato’s experimental spirit, probably he wanted to add some humor to the movie and he chose “Mallika Sarabhai” to portray a role of a drunkard looser wife. The movie theater had only eight people but Mallika made them laugh to an extent that the whole theater echoed (FYI, it was supposed to be a serious character).
Coming to the title which says “Love Songs” why is the name so? I have this question to Mr. Jayabrato – the movie doesn’t have any good humming number at all. All the songs which are sung by “Usha Uthup” (Doesn’t suit the character voice at all) come across as her promotional music video album then a movie. Someone irked “is this movie produced by Usha Uthup”. Background score are so loud that you confuse them with background music of another movie running in the adjacent theatre of the same multiplex.
I have so many questions with Mr. Jaybrato and every question starts with “WHY?” The movie has been made with stage artists and they end up making the whole movie look like a stage drama. They are so loud in their dialogues delivery that you can figure out where they hail from. So many scenes are irrelevant including a “LOVE MAKING” scene which looks straight out of a porn movie. “What’s wrong with you Jayabrato?. Just because you want to make an offbeat movie to stand apart from the crowd, you cannot ruin the whole meaning of offbeat cinema. I am disappointed.
I can go on and on for this one but to sum it up I would say “A full fledged effort to make a distinctively pathetic movie” and Jayabrato has succeeded in it. When you sit through it either you hate being a offbeat cinema lover rather you start recollecting “What did you do wrong recently that you ended up watching this movie or is it a last birth sin that you are paying off?”