Ishaqzaade - or the most screwed up relationship you are going to see in a Bollywood movie

[dangermousie]

spunspider recommended me this year's Ishaqzaade by telling me that if I love dysfunction, I will love this movie.



She was right.

Ishaqzaade follows Parma and Zoya - members of rival, bloodthirsty political families in UP and all the bad things that happen when they get tangled up.

First off (and that can be either good or bad, depending on your tastes) - this movie doesn't feel Bollywood. It makes me think of South Indian cinema (is it a remake of a Tamil movie or similar?). It is gritty (even the rich live in houses with dust), hella violent, and dark. Actually, it is a lot darker than most any 'romantic' Bollywood movie I can think of. Both Zoya and Parma are violent, damaged people. In some ways, it's a throwback to the 1980s, but not a bad one. Despite the fact that Parma does some truly reprehensible things, I can't help it - while I wanted to strangle him in the first half, the second half of the movie made me ship Parma and Zoya like mad (what can I say, I am a sucker for the '(sort of) good woman redeems bad man' narrative and this one was both hot and adorable) and hope against hope that they could find some way out of the madhouse of their town. My heart is very much with Zoya, especially, who discovers all the horrors that can ensue when one impulsive action places her beyond the pale in her family.



The shipper in me would have loved this movie if for no other reason than the 'falling for each other properly' sequences set in the brothel...



Have the title track:

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Fall in love in a brothel?!? Whoa! Now I really want to watch it and I haven't watched any Bollywood films for a while.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Enjoy :)

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

I'm loving the title track <3

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

All the songs in this are gorgeous

[spunspider.livejournal.com]

BEAMS. i told you so!! it's pretty polarising in that people either love it as per you and i, or deem zoya as lacking in self-respect for forgiving him and think the entire thing is fucked up. you're right, it really doesn't feel bollywood, barring maybe gauhar khan's dance sequences, which i dug. the whole thing was so tight and on point. i would've liked falling in love in a brothel to have lasted beyond a song, and for her to have taken slightly longer to forgive him bc that's good stuff, but on the whole i can't fault much at all.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

If she was an upper middle class woman in e.g. Denmark then sure, her forgiving him would have been unrealistic. But she is a woman in a deeply violent, sectarian, patriarchal society and a product of the same - sure, a good husband prospect does not do what Parma did, but a "normal" woman won't attempt murder repeatedly either. They are both shaped by their fucked up environment. Their normal is not my normal. Btw, the whole thing about Zoya's self respect - her whole sense of self came from being a member of her family, not healthy to start with. And, sadly, she is not evaluating a guy from te same baseline you or I would - in her world, the men of her family - her father and brothers - plan to kill her without a second thought because she supposedly disgrace them - Parma's behavior in act 1 pales in comparison to that.

Basically, I don't have to condone his actions in the first half to ship them - they love each other and their behavior makes sense to me and ehhh - I am a sucker for dysfunction.

[spunspider.livejournal.com]

no arguments from me. a lot of consumers of fiction are prone to judging characters from outside of the parameters of their narrative's universe. ishaqzaade's logic is sound mostly by way of its universe being so compact and condensed – we know parma's a different man and that in defying his family he committed familial suicide in the same way she did by marrying him/a hindu, and we know he loves her, and it's on her terms and damnit it's dysfunctional shipping paradise. honestly i find arjun unattractive but he's so charismatic, and i like parineeti's acting style a lot more than her cousin's, even though i like priyanka a lot. it's the first bollywood movie i've loved since, like, love aaj kal a couple of years ago, and even that wasn't love like this and i am really happy you agree!

[(Anonymous)]

Dangermousie, you are a bad, bad woman. Do you know how long it has been since I've watched an Indian movie? Then you put up this movie, "Ishaqzaade," and suddenly I feel - just from the description - the same butterflies I feel when I know a kdrama is going to be goooooooooood. I need another foreign language entertainment obsession like I need a hole in the head! My hard drive can barely handle the kdramas, now you may have kicked off a Bollywood obsession?! Actually, the blame doesn't start with you: it starts with "Faith." My beloved Faith; it led me to your site and its many temptations! Speaking of, you know how I know I love "Faith" too much? While watching Parma stare so hungrily at Zoya, I kept thinking "That's the look on daejang's face when ES says 'daejang' or undoes her hair." (I've got it bad.) Anywho, I had to stop Ishaqzaade right after the abandoned railway car sequence. I just had to: my mouth was agape and I kept muttering to myself, "No, Parma, no!" I was in shock; I'm still in shock. That was not a proportional response. So far, nothing in this movie remains within the proportionate realm but still, that... I mean, that just wins the booby prize for most Geez-us moment I have ever recently experienced in a movie.

Oh yes, I blame you (and "Faith"), Dangermousie.

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, so I watched it all the way through, forsaking all homework and... WTH! I mean, it was good and I love it and I'm going to keep it forever and ever but... WTH!

Seriously though, that chemistry was off the chain! Is this typical of Bollywood films now or something? 'Cause then they've grown up since last I saw them. :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

whoa, WHOA, wait a second, WAS THAT AN ACTUAL KISS I SAW IN THERE?! as in, lip contact?! I feel like I need to report a unicorn sighting or something, that shit is so rare in Bollywood. This looks like it needs watching, I was all 'meh' at first but since you rec it I'll give it a chance.


Shallow note: I do appreciate that her eyebrows retain some shape and fullness, too many Bollywood heroine eyebrows are overplucked within an inch of their lives (and it's not even a nicely done, Tom-Hiddleston-in-Thor kind of look, just....overplucked) and it's a look that bugs me. Also, nice to see another 20something hero even if he's yet another nepotism baby - sometimes looking at 40 and 50something actors romancing actresses in their 20s (early 30s, at the outside) gets really tiring, especially as they get older and start to overdo the fillers and weaves.

god I really have my bitch on today.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

There are kisses and make out scenes in this! I haven;t watched much Bollywood in the last few years so not sure how common it is

[twafiqa f. mohinuddin (from livejournal.com)]

Ok mine was the first comment and for some reason i came off as anonymous:(
Unfortunately I decided to watch this movie tonight! I have homework for class tomorrow, have to get up at 6 for work, completed nothing except this movie, and my reaction: WHOA WHAT THE FUCK! And that is said in absolutely best possible way!

That movie was so messed up and like u said gritty and dark it doesn't seem like Bollywood, it just seems like the best remake of Romeo and Juliet ever made. Actually this movie reminded me of Amir Khan's first movie ever with Juhi Chawla "qayamat se qayamat tak" and regardless of being an Amir Khan fan, this was AMAZING!

If you think about it Kang Maru and Parma has lots of similarities: both bent on revenge, makes me want to kill them in the first half, and after they have fallen in love makes me want to protect them in a bubble from all the evil in the world! This two shows are also both gritty, dark, so much so that it seems real and they take overused cliches and makes it into something amazing!

YAY FOR DYSFUNCTIONAL COUPLES!!!'
Btw thanks for letting me know about this movie Mrs.Mousie, btw do u any good South Indian movies that was released recently?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I've been sort of out of the loop when it comes to Indian movies for the last few years. I can ask around.

[(Anonymous)]

woahhh!! Didn't know you watched Indian movies. I highly recommend Kahaani and English Vinglish. You'll thoroughly enjoy them!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll check them out.

I used to be obsessed with Indian movies. Less so now but I do enjoy them still.