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Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003) Director: Sudhir Mishra Cast: Shiney Ahuja, Kay Kay Menon, Chitrangada Singh Time: 120 min. English and Hindi and Punjabi with English subtitles Note: The image from the above movie poster is misleading. It has absolutely nothing to do with the film. Rating: |
India’s incredibly varied history offers so many possible backdrops for an unlimited number of stories—Hindu mythology, Mughal rule, British colonization, Partition, the 1984 riots. Sudhir Mishra’s Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi incorporates the Naxalite movement (and its resulting political chaos) into a simple, intense, but amazing tale of desire and fulfillment.
Hazaaron begins in Delhi in 1969 and focuses on three college friends: Siddharth (Menon), a socialist believer who moves to Bhojpur in Bihar to save the villagers from oppression; Geeta (Singh), a disillusioned debutante who joins Siddharth to prove her love for him; and Vikram (Ahuja), a capitalist practitioner who longs for Geeta but chooses to build an economic empire.
The script follows the friends into the 1970s, as their lives continually separate and converge. Siddharth becomes a fugitive because of his leftwing activities, Geeta teaches classes in Bhojpur and has Siddharth’s son, while Vikram establishes himself as a businessman with many powerful connections. In the background, Indira Gandhi embraces her dictatorial powers and implements her draconian social policies of forced sterilizations.
The film’s title translates as A Thousand Desires Such as This, and themes that play on the many meanings of desire run through the film: the desire for direction in one’s life, the desire to do good, the desire for wealth and power, the desire one has for one’s children, the desire to help those close to us, the desire for love. Despite the dichotomies among so many desires, director Mishra manages to unify them perfectly and subtly.
Having a highly talented cast helps convey these themes smoothly. Menon brings a simultaneous aloofness and passion to Siddharth. Ahuja blends sliminess and sincerity in Vkiram. Singh imbues Geeta with uncertainty and determination. This balancing of the characters’ contradictions gives them a reality that simple acting could never achieve by itself.
Oddly, when Mishra presents us with historical reality, the film falters. Not that he offers a false representation of history, but he fails to explain it to an outside audience. Although the events that form the backdrop to the story happened, only viewers familiar with 1970s Indian history will comprehend how these events affect and influence the characters.
The term Naxalite is used without any definition. The sterilization camps are mentioned without providing the context of Indira Gandhi’s campaign to control the lower castes. Being unaware of these events will certainly not prevent anyone from understanding the action, but like proper character development, establishing historical context adds to any story’s depth.
Even though he doesn’t sufficiently develop the film’s historical context, Mishra lets the story unfold naturally and realistically. The relationships among the three friends evolves in a believable fashion as they grow apart to pursue their desires, reconnect through circumstance, and establish new bonds as adults. The subtle changes in personalities are handled perfectly.
Despite the skillful delineation of the plot, the film could use tighter editing, particularly during the first half. The storytelling never becomes sloppy, but it appears lax in places. Although this looseness isn’t jarring, it causes the film to drag or seem occasionally disjointed.
In the latter half of the film, the narrative flow becomes keenly focused as the story’s emotional intensity bubbles over, and the somewhat disturbing conclusion resonates in the silence of the final fade-away shot. To his credit, Mishra prevents the ending from sliding into melodrama, and he understates its irony, which only enhances its power.
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi might not be perfect, but it is intensely wonderful, and certainly a film you should desire to see.
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