Tamasha (Hindi)

Tamasha is a film which is meant to be enjoyed in and of itself, as a singular experience. The name itself means "spectacle" in Hindi, and it treats viewers to a sensory and emotional feast. The stunning visuals, score, and overwhelming chemistry between lovers Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) and Tara (Deepika Padukone) encourage the viewer to savor each individual moment beyond concerns of theme, plot, and wider relevance. While these are present, I left the theater without remembering any specific scene, yet feeling an immense, almost physical satisfaction with the experience as a whole. 

In later reflection, the film presents a profound proposition which is perhaps hinted at by the very force of its style — when reality has become little more than brute fact, truth and wisdom reside in the imagination. When Ved and Tara, two young Indian professionals, meet on the island of Corsica, they agree that they are only going to tell each other lies about their backgrounds in the midst of a whirlwind courtship. 

Upon returning to India, the power of their lies abides, while their real lives stagnate in routine misery. After coming back into contact, they come to a moment of fundamental conflict: Is the narrative of the ubiquitous corporate personality a lie, and is the storyteller more honest and valuable than the corporate manager? 

But the question is never so seriously posed, as the answer is implicit and obvious throughout. There is an admirable light-hearted certainty about the role and value of art as a vital exercise almost entirely absent from American, and indeed Western film. This film is in love with the notion of the power of the imagination. It revels in its artistic tapestry of narratives, of legends and storytellers who have lived this struggle before. 


Yet this is not an excuse for idle fantasizing — precisely the opposite. Ved and Tara are must craft the narrative of their own lives, and false stories are separated from the genuine only by one's own actions. As the film's subtitle asks, "Why Always The Same Story?" 

After the heady emotions subside, the question persists. Alienation, loneliness, cynicism — why always the same story? The message here is clear. Write your own story. 

Final Word: Love is only for people who dare to author their own souls...

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