Ishqiya, Unapologetically Bold

Ishqiya, a weird word which does not exists in dictionary. One can only wonder why Vishal chose such a word for naming his film, but then Vishal, as we know him never spoon feeds his audience. So it is bit natural he would like his audience to think through the name and come up with their own interpretation of it. It could be Ishq kiya squeezed into one word, but on watching the film, the meaning of Ishqiya takes totally different significance.

The movie starts with someone singing “ab mujhe koi intejar kahan, Wo jo behte the aabshaar kahan”. A soft light slowly lit the voluminous contours of Krishna (Vidhya Balan) in a dark room. The image and lyrics beautifully depicted the agony and happiness of a wife who waits for her husband and now that her husband is back, her life is lighted and tears are gone (Aabshaar means waterfalls. Here it means the tears falling from her eyes). Such is the power of lyrics by Gulzar. Needless to say similar beauty in the lyrics has been bestowed over the entire film. The best one would be the romantic ballad Dil toh bachha hai ji which beautifully shows the emotion of an aged man going through the juvenile emotions of love.

Aisi ulji nazar unse hatt ti nahi
Daant se reshmi dor katt ti nahi
Umar kab ki baras ke safaid ho gayi
Kaari badari jawani ki chatt ti nahi
Walla ye dhadkan bhadne lagi hai
Chehre ki rangat udne lagi hai
Darr lagta hai tanha sone mein ji
Dil to bachcha hai ji
Dil to bachcha hai ji
Thoda kaccha hai ji
Haan dil to baccha hai ji

Krishna is widow of a Verma ji, a local gangster who died in an accident in explosion of gas cylinder. Khalu Jaan (Naseeruddin Sah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) are two thieves who double cross their boss and are on the run. They landed in the house of Krishna in Gorakhpur to take  shelter and cross the border to Nepal. But what starts here is a tale of love, deceit and revenge.

A great of deal of attention has been paid to the names of the character. Vidhya balan is called Krishna. The Sanskrit word Krishna means “black”, “dark” or “dark-blue” or some one with dark blue skin. Here the meaning goes skin deep. The character is dark and her feelings blue. Also if one thinks of Krishna as in Krishna bhagwan it seems apt for her character with multiple love interest. Naseerudin Sah is called Khalu Jaan which means uncle suiting his age and the portrayal of old age love. Arshad warsi is Babban which brings into mind Babban Sher, which means a wild and crude creature. Babban is similar in terms of wildness and crudeness of his sexuality.

The high point of direction by Abhishek Choubey is the location and the dialogues. Shot in real locations, it brings out the life in UP very well. Whether it is the dilapidated house on the shore of a river or the lanes of gorkhpur, locations are stark real.  The dialogues by Vishal are pitch perfect with creating the right atmosphere without any dilution. Take the scene when Krishna tells Khalujaan that he can not lie properly. Khalujaan replies “Agar aurat hota toh pata nahin chalta ki pari hoon ya tabayaf” telling her that he knows about her and babban’s relation. Or the dialogue by Babban “Ye sahi hai Khalu, tumara Ishq Ishq aur hamara Ishq sex”, showing the attitude towards love between two generations. The dialogues have a crisp feel with none of the person talking more than 2 – 3 lines at a single stretch. With melodramatic dialogue coupled with a normal one liner to give a comic touch. Like when Krishna says “Ishq mein sab bewajah hota hai”, Babban replies “bag phata hua hai, koi aur bag hai?”

Ishqiya is actually Sholay revisited in western spaghetti . The impression of Emir Kusturika style is evident in many scenes. The dance sequence between Khalujaan and Babban in the starting, the brass brand background score while they follow Kakkar to the beauty parlour. Infact the look of the character khalujaan seemed similar to the ones of Miki” Manojlovic in Underground. The starting of the song Dil toh bachha hai also seemed very much European.

If it could be said, Ishqiya is a film on the vagaries of love. Innocent love by an aged man, blossomed over small flirtations and old songs. An adult love which starts when the carnal desires are fulfilled. Obsessive love that leads to revenge or love as cards in the card game. Only here the game is much bigger and dangerous. The only redemption in this complicated tale of love is that none of the love that has been shown is amateurish. This is the love between adults with meaning much deeper than what normal love stories attributes Love to be. This is a bold take on love where Love means different for different person.

Even though the film is on different varieties of love, the backdrop of the story provided enough scope of social commentary without actually getting deep into it. It gave us a peek on how kids play with guns in the hinterlands of UP. In the words of Nandu “Chuttar dhone se pahle tamancha chalana sikhate hai”.  The kidnapping spree in the cities like Gorakhpur and north UP and Caste wars that is going on for years in that region were also touched upon without moving away from the actual story line.

Coming to acting department, nothing needs to be said for Naseer. Arshad has also proven himself. Both work as charm in a chacha bhatija role. But the stealer this time is Vidhya Balan. She proves that to look sensuous you need not shed clothes, nor to look the part you have to try hard. She was just their perfect as Krishna with her eyes doing what she lost on the accent front.

All in all a great film from the stable of Vishal Bharadwaj and kudos to first time director Abhishek Chaubey for coming up with a film which entertains yet do not undermine the intelligence of the audience.