Tamasha Review

Rating: 3/5

Critic Rating: (3/5) Users Rating: ( 4/5 from 7 Users )

Tamasha Review: Imtiaz Ali confuses but Ranbir Kapoor impresses

Imtiaz Ali is undoubtedly one of the finest writers and directors we have today especially when it comes to breaking conventions. He brilliantly writes the lead actor’s roles. Be it the Geet of Jab we met or Jordan of Rockstar. Also, except Highway all of his films had the ‘bichadna’ factor and when they reunite how the original character changes and surprises the other person. Tamasha has the above two components as an integral part of it. What makes Tamasha different from these films is its abstractness. Unfortunately that abstractness is difficult to crack and comprehend. It stays for most part in Imtiaz’s head and you can’t really make sense of certain scenes (at least during the first-time watch).

Ranbir and Deepika Tamasha
Ranbir and Deepika Tamasha

The movie begins with a kid named Ved enthusiastically listening to folk stories and narrations of mythological epics. Cut to France where Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) is on a backpack trip on a holiday. He is care-free, confident, street smart and an interesting personality that could make any girl fall in love. Ved meets Taara (Deepika Padukone) who is also alone on a holiday. They instantly like each other and have a pact to not reveal anything about themselves and have a 7-day relationship. They also decide not to have a typical boy-meets-girl love story and shall never meet again after the trip. The trip ends and three years pass by. Taara however is still in awe of Ved and is in constant search of him. Ved however is a totally a different person now. He is a soft-spoken, suave, well-behaved, well-groomed and polite person now. Taara is perplexed on seeing this change. The reason for the contrasting behavior and how does it affect Ved and Taara’s lives is the rest of the story about.

A Still from Tamasha Movie
A Still from Tamasha Movie

The problem with Tamasha is it confidently projects itself as a love story in the first half but unexpectedly becomes a story of self-discovery where the female protagonist is totally sidelined. Though related, the first and second half seem as part 1 and part 2 of a series. The feel that the love story gets in the first hour is pushed completely under the carpet. The climax however brings back the love story in the penultimate two minutes and we have the rolling credits. The only think that keeps the viewer glued to the seat is Ranbir’s performance. Finally, after a hiatus he got a role where he could re-exhibit his talent which erupted like volcano in Tamasha. He was purely immaculate. An award winning performance, no doubt. There are certain monologues and certain scenes which he magically pulls off creating humour very naturally. His Dev Anand act was top-notch.

Deepika was magical too. Sadly, her role is abruptly cut-off. She in fact made Taara probably much more interesting than on the paper. The songs were choreographed creatively.

All in all, Imtiaz confuses the viewer what’s Tamasha is all about. But, Ranbir seems to know what he is doing he was just perfect!

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( 4/5 from 7 Users )

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