"Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai ki mai kaun hoon?" The movie begins with the Robot fixing the trope of the movie i.e. the question of identity. The director creates a dichotomy between the heart and the world, and from there on begins the Tamasha of angst and passion, wonderfully sketched out by Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and of course, the director, Imtiaz Ali. The joker on the stage replicates the true self of the Robot which buries in the rubble of the mechanised system where conventions dictate our behaviour through normalisation and discipline. On metaphorical level, the 'janam janam ka taka' between the Joker and Robot is jinxed and later manifests in form of bipolar personality of Ved (Kapoor). In the movie, to applaud the sheer intelligence behind the dialogues , adjectives will fall short!
VED
Ved loves to parachute in the world of fantasy but his transitions in the movie is what Tamasha captures on celluloid. From an extremely inquisitive child who feeds on stories to an adult caught in a ho-hum existence, Tamasha is an intelligently portrayed story with a timely placement of songs and lyrics. The presentation of the story in the form of musical narrative and non linear screenplay surely betray the grapevine influence of the crap feeding Indian audiences which fail to digest quality cinema. The music carries the story forward and intensifies its rich tapestry. Starting from the actual tamasha on stage to the figurative tamasha of life and emotions, the metaphor of Robot stands high for the mechanical existence of conformist people which prey on the dreams and inner self of individuals. Imtiaz Ali, once again, weaves a character with potential rebellion, and from Jordan to Veera to Ved, his journey hasn't ended yet!
Ved's character is a round one in the movie. The movie begins with his childhood when his heart leapt to behold the rainbow which never let reality get in way of captivating yarns spun in equally mesmerising way by Piyush mishra. "Mai toh chala hiran ke shikar pe" - these lines and the "Chali kahani" song, thereafter, sum up the first part of the movie establishing the incredible network of stories which keeps us compact and interconnected. For instance, the story of Soni-Mahiwal echoes with that of Ved and Tara in the second part of the movie, hence the director rightly throws his dilemma that no one knows where a kahani begins and ends. It just travels!
In the second part of the movie, the beauty and warmth of Corsico lie parallel to the mood of the characters. Happy Ved, happy Corsico and happy music- Imtiaz's use of pathetic fallacy is as fitting as a shoe. The role play again reinforces the dominant trope of identity and can be seen as a way of escape from a socially conditioned self of Ved which stifles him like his tie in the later part of the movie. This is also his unconscious attempt to leap up to that same rainbow of childhood. "Dil ka bhanwar kahe sun sathiya, chup na duppatte mein tu o chhliya" - this precisely capsules what Imtiaz ali wants to portray through his film. This "Matargashti" song and then "Heer toh badi sad hai" songs carry the story forward and set the ambience of the story.
The dexterous use of shadows on stage, mirrors, and other important symbols like clock, his cubicle in office...display inner conflicts and also the gloominess of monotony of a low spirited survival. In part three, even on his date with Tara, Ved's keeps a check of time which shows his complete thrust into the hole of the robotic existence. Moreover, this part also sees his consequent rebound and redemption. The interval at the break up scene pins its importance as it is a turning point when Ved's life will take a new route. The rickshaw wala of the "Wat Wat" song, emerges as the double of Ved who is "andar se kuchh aur (hi hai hum) aur bahar se majboor" which further trigger's his memory of his engineering days. His final redemption comes from the kahaniwala who, enraged, says- "dil mein heer liye aur heer khojey viraane mein. farebi, dhokebaaz'' and indirectly urges him - Bol De Tu Koi Aur Hai, Chehre Jo Odhe Tune Woh, Tere Kahaan Hain.
TARA
The idea of 'waiting' seems peripheral in the movie, but it actually binds the whole narrative in a nuanced way. Amongst all the 'wait', Tara's is most obvious and also underrated in terms of due acknowledgement.
Laila-Majnu, Heer-Ranjha, Romeo-Juliet, Soni-Mahival, Ram-Sita, and even Helen of Troy who wished to be reunited with Menelaus...all these legends end with the characters waiting, for their lovers, to meet, no matter in death! Ved apparently waits to be Don again and Tara, for her Don...and regardless, she is twice removed from Ved's actual, real self. Tara's period of waiting becomes lesser important , perhaps because of the pact before the 'pack of lies' life in Corsico. However, she is Ved's heroine, his soul's voice which literally and metaphorically gets established in the very beginning of the movie- the joker who juxtapose the robot and is actually the rainbow the latter buried for him. In true sense, Tara is the actual hero who becomes instrumental in varied ways. Moreover, Tara's wait is more corporeal whereas,Ved's wait for the rebound is more psychological. the both stay, because of faith that they will be together. and here, Ved's wait becomes important because he is on verge of mental illness whereas Tara is psychologically healthy and she only is emotionally distraught and nonetheless, both are all by themselves to tackle their own selves. This makes Tamasha much more than just a love story as human emotions have a much larger canvas which can't be exhausted in popcorn worth storylines.
Tara is a very strong character and it becomes important when we view it in context of modern relationships and hook-up culture where physical proximity brushes faith and emotional intimacy aside.
TAMASHA IS A MOVIE WHICH LEAVES A FANTASTIC AFTER TASTE; IN A KIND OF ZONE YOU WANT TO BE IN SOMETIME, ALONE BY YOURSELF!!
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