TAMASHA is not as much a love story as it is a journey of self discovery. Imitiaz Ali dares to peel off the dust that piles on us as we get lost in the race of life in the concrete corporate world.
The premise is promising but Ali probably could have wasted less time in establishing the dreamy world of the protagonist, Ved. When he reaches the picturesque Corsica, he seemed to be in haste to get over with that sequence where the two prime characters meet. Probably a little more detailing (like the restaurant and forest scenes) could have made it apt as there were many scenes were it seemed the two characters where left on their own.
Also while Dipika sets Ved on his self discovery, I was wondering why did she had to wait for so long after meeting him in Delhi to tell him that he was diametrically opposite to the person she met in Corsica? After all, it was his infectious crazy energy that she had fallen in love with.
The trailers of the movie gave the impression of a love story, something which have become a forte for Ali but this could be misleading and can disappoint fans who are going with the expectations of watching how Ali peels of another layer of relationship.
The positive thing about this movie is that it tries to talk about keeping alive the child, who slowly suffocates to death inside us and three cheers to Ali for bringing this on the Indian screen, which the most powerful medium. I just wished Ali had spend more time in writing and done away with the haste.
The narration of the movie is also slightly complex as it goes back and forth and an average Indian audience might lose the track amidst their popcorn, nachos and coke. But that should not discourage Ali because that's something which I liked about the film.
Ranbir Kapoor is one of the rare popular actor who has always done justice to complex characters and here he once again brings that confusion and inner turmoil beautifully. Dipika Padukone, who had much fewer scenes since the film is more about Ved's journey, does justice to her character, pulling it off with just the right dose of aplomb. Piyush Mishra as the story teller was also superb in this small but important role.
Overall, the movie compels us to rethink what we are and tries to reiterate that we still have a choice of becoming who we want to be, of course it is not as easy. Probably, the film could have ended with this realisation without showing him achieving his dream in the end, which again seemed to be hastily done.
In fine, if you can see through the initial half an hour, chances are that you will not repent your decision of going to the theatres.
