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Friday, February 14, 2025
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BOLLYWOOD ISHAQZAADE
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ****
What does one do when love strikes during times of war? And make no mistake.
Elections time in a small dusty town of Uttar Pradesh is akin to war. Guns are
fired randomly at enemies, real or imagined. Enemies fall to the ground. Morals
lie crushed under heels. And finer feelings are buried under a rubble of
trouble.
Into this town, here named Almora, enters love on silent feet. Well, maybe not
so silent. Ishaqzaade is a very noisy film. The hero Parma (debutant
Arjun Kapoor) is an uncouth animal, whose disgusting habits include kidnapping
the town`s nautch girl from a rival`s party to dance at his grandfather`s
wedding. Later, his moral temperature dips to an all-time low when he takes
loathsome revenge on the girl he loves to hate.
As the Muslim girl Zoya, Parineeti Chopra fills the screen with a tempestuous
charm. Naturally spontaneous and vivacious, she reminds you of the early Jaya
Bhaduri. Her character is a sharp-shooter with a tongue to match. And when she
gets brutally compromised by Parma, she reacts like a wild cat raging against
the promised full-cream milk that curdled when she was not looking.
Habib Faisal, who made the mellow, mild-mannered middle-class comedy Do
Dooni Chaar about a college professor`s dream of buying a car, here shows
a completely unexpected side to his cinematic vision. The landscape he paints in
Almora is so volatile and violent, you pray for atonement for these characters.
The lovers don`t exchange chaste glances and furtive kisses. They embrace
passionately and smooch each other`s lips off. And when they make love, it seems
they are waging war on the world. Full-blooded, voluptuous and eminently earthy,
Ishaqzaade is a pickled, aromatic roller-coaster ride through the
badlands where blazing guns mean families are at one another`s throats.
The first-half of the narration builds up to an engrossing case for Parma to
inflict his uncouth and aggressive malevolence on Zoya. The confrontation scenes
between the two, written with the right amount of zing and sting, are
first-rate. Remarkably the adversaries-turned-lovers keep drawing attention to
each other`s religion without mincing words. The two religions are almost thrown
at one another as taunts. Riot or wrong, who can tell?
What Faisal wants to say, and we would be better off if we pay heed, is -- it is
imperative to address the Hindi-Muslim divide headlong, or else blood would
continue to be spilt each time two people from different communities `dare` to
love each other.
Don`t even think of it. An Indo-Pak war will break out, the Muslim
girl warns the Hindu boy. And then proceeds to break the self-imposed rule with
a rush of rebellion and passion that seems to replicate the flow of adrenaline
in the virile script.
Ishaqzaade is written in blood, dipped in passion, and shot in vivid
colours of life, strife and other bitter embers of the communal fire. The
director constantly attempts to bring alive the cluttered milieu of a lawless
north Indian town. Faisal succeeds to a remarkable degree.
His characters speak an easily recognisable language from Uttar Pradesh`s
heartland where even daughters are taught to fire a gun before they learn the
alphabet. The supporting characters don`t fake it even for a second.
Many scenes convey warmth and empathy without a jot of self-consciousness. The
characters are all played by unknown local UP actors who are born to the milieu.
The director builds a believable arc of love and revenge. His lovers are so
well-conceived on paper, it would have taken two truly idiotic actors to ruin
their characters.
Luckily, Parineeti and Arjun are anything but incapable actors. They imbue the
violent ambience with their own peculiar chemistry.
The bloodshed never stops, and the action is relentless. Hemant Chaturvedi`s
cinematography creates a world that is real and at the same time, highly
cinematic.
There are many reasons why Ishaqzaade is a remarkable film. It
enters the killing fields of Uttar Pradesh. It chases down our two protagonists
and then watches them get into a crisis with no end. In the end, we are looking
at two young vibrant people whom we love because they love one another
irrespective of the differences.
This is not a film which offers a pretty love story with gentle love songs. Even
the music (by Amit Trivedi) sounds like a war cry. As for Parineeti and Arjun,
never mind the destiny that lies in store for their characters in this film.
They are here to stay.
On completing six years in the Indian entertainment industry since the release of his debut film 'Ishaqzaade,' actor Arjun Kapoor on Friday thanked his fans for their support and announced a new project, titled 'India's Most Wanted,' which will be directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. Arjun took to Twitter and shared a photograph of himself along with Gupta. The image had a newspaper frame, which read: "Fox Star Studios and Raj Kumar Gupta join hands for 'India's Most Wanted'. Arjun Kapoor to play the lead. Inspired by the capture of 'India's Most Wanted', without firing a single bullet. The shoot begins August 2018."Read More
I've no pressure to look a certain way: Parineeti ChopraParineeti Chopra got under the scanner for her drastic weight loss, with some praising her dedication and some criticising her for sending out a negative message on body image. But the actress says she doesn't always pay attention to what people are talking about to avoid getting caught in a "vicious circle".She feels no pressure to look a "certain way"."You can't always pay attention to what people are talking about you. If you do, you will get into a vicious circle. You have to feel good, you have to feel fit. Fitness is extremely subjective and that's the fun of it," Parineeti told IANS in an email interview. Read More
Rising from the ashes of hooliganism and small town clan wars, comes the love story of a passion ignited by hatred.
Of two people. Born to hate. Destined to love.
One kingdom. One throne. Two wild animals… unpredictable Parma… ferocious Zoya. A battle… deafened by sounds of hate, revenge, bullets and deceit.
A story… about two fiery bloods played by Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, and their fight for power and supremacy.
A story about love brewing in a small town burning with hatred.
A story called ISHAQZAADE.
Follow the story of the ishaqzaade`s as their turbulent journey unfolds in the often unrealistic and daunting political confines of rural India.
