Worth Watching. Review on Sorry Bhai Movie

At the very outset, let me confess that I love to watch films based on complex relationships and those that deal with breaking social taboos. And mostly those films in which Chitrangdha Singh alluringly flaunts her magical Smita-Patil-smile. So I loved Onir's third directorial venture, 'Sorry Bhai!'

I believe that, discussing the negatives first and then the positive aspects later, makes the whole point more positive than when done in vice-versa. And so, for things that I like and want to show them in positive light, I always start with telling about their negatives.

Onir makes the same mistakes which Karan made in KANK -- one, simplifying the complexity involved in the story, and two, giving reason for the temptation/falling-in-love aspect of the same. When a complexity is simplified, I believe, it's no longer a complexity. So as to understand, what complexity requires is clarity; and not simplification. In this film (as well as in KANK), simplification completely dominates clarity. All the characters are so mature, pleasing and understanding that, even before the taboo is broken, you can guess that everyone will accept it. The intensity of the conflict is enormously diluted. Even Shabana's character, who was supposed to be the key opposition, is far from being an antagonist. And the obvious lack of an antagonist makes the drama very feeble and simplistic. Same with Abhishek and Priety in KANK! They were hardly antagonists.

When you give a reason as to why you fell in love; then, my dear friends, either the reason or the love will cease very soon. The concept of logical reasoning dilutes the very truth about Love. Love was/is/will never (be) bounded by reasons. A person loves another, only because, he loves him/her. That's it!!! And that's the reason why Rani Mukherjee's character, Maya, is the best written character in KANK. She doesn’t have any reason, literally no reason, to fall in love with SRK's character. But she does; only because, she loves him. And that's what makes her part of the story in KANK more romantic than that of SRK's. SRK's character is given all sorts of reasons for him getting into infidelity -- bored marriage, personal handicap, inferiority complex, dominating wife, etc; and I felt those reasons are not required if the story is a pure love story between two persons. I would have loved the film more, had the story been like SRK, happily married to Priety with a son, falls in love with Rani, who has got the most perfect man in the world as her husband. The lack of genuine reason for them to fall in love is what makes their love a taboo or forbidden.

In a way, Rani's character is what makes KANK a superior film to Sorry Bhai. The latter has all the love and affections bounded with reasons. Even Sharman has a reason to obey to his mother. Can’t a son obey his mother, without a logical reason? Can’t he love his brother without any explanation? This concept of logical reasoning given to the love and affections portrayed in a story makes those emotions too much bounded. And mind you, I am not blaming any character for having reason to love; but it's the writers/directors to blame to giving reasons for their characters to fall in love.

For this I have another analogy related to the difference between CheeniKum and Nishabd. In CheeniKum, neither Tabu nor Amitabh give explanation or reason to fall in love. They just fall in love, just because they feel so. In Nishabd, though the character's don’t really pose any reasons to fall in love, the director, right from the start, gets defensive by soaking Amitabh is guilt. Talking about breaking a taboo is also a taboo in itself. And when one decides to break a taboo, he/she should dare to break it. This daringness was evident in CheeniKum and lacked in Nishabd, KANK and Sorry Bhai.

Onir's direction is good upto a level where he is able to keep the characters from going over-board. But I felt, this story needs to go over-board at some places; especially in the scene where Sanjay Suri comes across the truth. Slapping Sharman is too feeble of a reaction. In KANK, Abhishek towers his performance with that one scene when he gets mad. Kudos to Karan there! Such a scene in Sorry Bhai could have added points to Onir's fame. And also, when handling complexity, Onir fails to effectively utilize the real-estate of the screen-space. Each event happens in succession as if two emotions could never occur simultaneously. Had the temptation and guilt been shown in the same frame, Onir could have scored even more points. Most of the frames are picture perfect landscapes which hardly add anything to express the complexity of the theme. Also, the humor is very much misplaced at key plot points. I think Onir was confused with the genre. He wanted to make a comedy; but his treatment got too serious. So the film ends up being neither a complete comedy nor an intense serious drama.

The biggest positive in this film is undoubtedly the ethereal, other-worldly, Chitrangdha Singh. Swimming against the negative currents of a half-baked character, she emerges successful in portraying the 'bitch' of the story; and that, with utmost grace. I doubt, infidelity could ever be so graceful again on screen! Watch out for the sparkling expression when she tells her friend that she will make Sharman fall in love with her. I almost fell in love!!! Thank God!! It's just a film!

Sharman Joshi, Sanjay Suri, Boman Irani, Shabana Azmi; all have done their respective roles very well. Cinematography by Sachin Kumar is good and so do the compositions by Mithun. The production values are adequate. A couple of songs went well with the flow of the film and they sounded good. The script though faulted, is good at many places. The whole episode of 'jazz ka bura asar' is very beautifully written. Also, the conversation between Chitrangdha and Sharman near the swimming pool, the night before her marriage to Sanjay! Amazing lines! Simple, compact and very expressive! And the scene, where Chitrangdha looks at herself in the mirror only to be caught by her friend, of thinking about Sharman, is very well directed and enacted.

A watch-worthy film!