Ishaqzaade review
We’ve all seen love stories featuring inter-caste couples, ‘Bombay’ being one of the finest in that league. So we know exactly what to expect when ‘Ishaqzaade’ shows sparks of ending up like one. Basic elements in such films: cultural differences are brushed aside for a healthy tolerance if not acceptance of each other’s religious beliefs, fierce parental opposition leading to arms being pulled out of the holster and so on. But this film makes a very simple yet crucial point: the story doesn’t need to be radically different to throw you off your feet. It is the treatment and the finer nuances of presentation which qualify as laudable differentiators. For one- the filmic reality is done away with and how situations pan out are way more believable than in most films. So if they’re in love and you’re happy to see them like that doesn’t mean that the director will indulge in your candy floss fantasy. So hypothetically speaking, if the situation demands for them to be skinned alive, they would be and if it just so happens that they manage to work it out, then they will. And that is what keeps you at the edge of your seat, knowing that what you want may or may not happen. In the meanwhile, enjoy the show.
Set in a fictional small-town of Alnor, we’re introduced to two warring political families who’re perennially looking for an excuse to slice each other. The Chauhans and the Qureshis. Zoya (Parineeti Chopra) and Param (Arjun Kapoor) belong to each of these camps. Zoya is a college student with aspirations of becoming an MP some day, just like her Papa-Aftab Qureshi. Param is a rowdy Chauhan who’s mostly seen buffooning around unless he’s put to task by his politician grandpa- the senior-most Chauhan.
It’s obvious that Param and Zoya despise each other to the extent of infinity. If you’ve heard the song- ‘I hate you like I love you’, you know that hate is after all an equally strong emotion as love. So it’s only a matter of time before Param and Zoya tweak their intense feelings to brew positivity. What is also clear in a film like this is that it isn’t going to be simple ‘happily ever after’ and their declaration of love would make Alnor crumble (metaphorically speaking). And it does. A clever twist makes it a trickier plot as Zoya learns that her own parents who’ve always served her every whim are fierce and emotionally bankrupt when it comes her relationship with a Hindi boy. Where this relationship leads to- is the story of this film and saying anymore would actually be a spoiler.
The best scene in ‘Ishaqzaade’ is the one where Zoya comes home after planning to secretly get married to Param the next day. While the sequence would seem unremarkable to most, the beautiful silence as she enters her home and passes each member of the house is magical. Everyone in her family greets her like they always do, they’re busy doing the things that they always do but Zoya’s inner guilt is beautifully captured as she tries to hold a poker face till she reaches her room where she reveals her glorious smile to the mirror. And it is her smile that mirrors her inner thoughts and feelings.
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