A true gem in Bollywood
The writer is enthralled by Indian actress Kajol who lights up the screen in every performance.
I HAVE watched some great movies from India lately – The Disciple, Yeh Ballet and Ajeeb Daastaans to name three, all available on Netflix.
But Tribhanga: Tedhi Medhi Crazy (2021) is simply outstanding.
It is disturbing and heart wrenching. It demands a lot of candour and truthfulness on the part of the director and the actors involved, especially Kajol who plays Anurandha Apte.
This is Kajol’s biggest challenge as an actor so far.
But then again, there is Kajol and there are others. The diva of contemporary Hindi cinema is simply in a class of her own. She has been breaking box office records. Some of her movies have helped redefine the world of Hindi films. In most of her films, she leaves an indelible mark on the screen.
We will always remember her hit movies Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gam, My Name Is Khan and Dilwale.
She is always at her best when paired with the extremely popular Shah Rukh Khan, one of Bollywood’s biggest male stars.
They have great chemistry; they are simply made for each other on screen.
Kajol is not the prettiest among the starlets. Some are better actors compared to her. But many simply fade away from the screen, perhaps a bit too old for the demanding audiences of Indian cinema.
Sustainability is a scary word among the film-wallahs. All film stars have their own “shelf life”, so to speak.
Kajol is not young any more but she remains relevant and wanted. The 46-year-old star can take long breaks that can destroy the careers of many others, and yet she comes back, stronger, prettier and more popular than before.
For almost two decades, at the peak of her career, she decided to take a sabbatical from acting.
Between 2010 and 2015 she appeared in only two movies: My Name Is Khan and Dilwale. Both movies were certified blockbusters. Both saw her teaming with Shah Rukh; Dilwale was her seventh time starring opposite the Great Khan.
In Tribhanga she plays a famous Indian film star and an Odissi dancer. It is also Renuka Shahane’s directorial debut in Hindi films.
Kajol is remarkable in this one. No, she is not singing on an abandoned plane or holding the tail of her saree with a stunning background of ice-capped mountains. In fact, there’s no singing and dancing in this film.
It is all about the acting. The character is complex and multi-layered, whom Kajol plays without restraint and fear.
Her Anuradha is a foul-mouthed star with a penchant to look down upon people. She is cynical as she is sceptical.
Anurandha is an impetuous lady with the sobriety to humiliate, to antagonise, to love and to forgive. In short, Anurandha is not your typical Hindi film heroine.
She only cares for her daughter Masha (Mithila Palkar) and younger brother Robindro (Vaibhav Tatwawaadi).
Her background is not ordinary. Her mother, Nayantara Apte (Tanvi Azmi) is a famous writer who is obsessed with work. The children are left in the care of Aunty Vimal (Harsha Gupte). She left her husband because her mother-in-law can’t accept the fact that she does nothing but write.
She later married a scrooge who molested his own stepdaughter, Anurandha.
Nayantara then lived in with Baskar Raina (Kalwaljit Singh), a good man and a good father figure to her children, but who is unwilling to marry.
Anurandha despises her mother for almost everything. And she is protective of her daughter Masha, who is born out of wedlock from a relationship with an abusive Russian man.
The trials and tribulations of three generations of flawed women come to fore when Nayantara has a stroke and is hospitalised.
More trouble ensues for Anurandha when her daughter decides to marry into a traditional Indian family, something that she can never comprehend. That jolts her consciousness.
That last 16 minutes of screen time is a real gem. Anuradha knows little of her own daughter as much as she knows little about her mother.
“Sometimes in family you don’t have a choice,” Masha reminded her.