Betaab: Pay No Attention to that Man Behind the Curtain....

Or, I suppose it's time I put my cards on the table and came clean about Betaab.

When I wrote:

" Betaab is a satisfying watch on so many levels, and is a "stress-free experience" for the viewer."

What I should have written was:

"I love this film so much and I see so much potential in it that I love it beyond all reason, and that's good enough for me."

So let me tell you a few things I probably should have the first time around.

1. The Shrew, comma, Taming of.  It's as bad as I think it is, right?

I spent a lot of time mulling this one over, and I'm going to have to concede, if the film falls down anywhere, it's here. (And remind me to talk about this again when I get to Barsaat, will you?)

That said:  I still don't think it's the most egregious use of the trope I've ever seen, and I do stand by what I said, that the "tamed" Roma still contains much of the spunk and spark of the "untamed" one. 

And I also think that throughout that bit of the story, I was thinking two things.  First:  why they heck is Sunny remotely interested in her, because she's such a snot, surely he can't be hanging on to that "oh, childhood romance" thing, can he?   And second:  you know, he's a bit too cocky for his own good, and sometimes he's just as bad as she is, so why does he get off so lightly?

There's another undercurrent to all of this that I've purposely chosen to ignore:  one of the things I find admirable, at least, about Sunny, is that whatever he does to "tame" Roma, it doesn't involve violence, and the film is quite blunt about this.  At one point during their emotional and verbal sparring, Roma lashes out and tries to hit Sunny -- he grabs her wrist before she can do so, and tells her that if she were a man, he'd have broken her arm.  The implication being he's not going to take anything out on her physically.

And this is, sadly, in contrast to her father, who gives her a right smack when he thinks she's gone too far and has dishonoured him by taking up with Sunny.  He tries it a second time, too, only in Sunny's presence, and Sunny stops him, and is clear that if her father tries this again, he won't be responsible for what happens.

So what I don't see in the use of this trope is Sunny trying to harm Roma, or trying to break her spirit -- because she's just as spirited after the....um....snake bite moment -- only difference is, she's a heck of a lot nicer.  And, I think, he is, too, so something in Roma's transformation brings out something better in him, too.

I take some comfort in the fact that once the relationship dynamic shifts, and they move into "sweet, youthful romance mode", each of them becomes sweeter, nicer, to each other, to those around them. But yes, the shift for Sunny is miniscule compared to what it is for Roma, and his flaws, though there,  are miniscule too.  He's seen as too chatty, not knowing when to say nothing, and a little too full of himself -- both Roma and his mother chide him for it, yet, they're also kind of tenderly indulgent of it, kind of "well, boys will be boys."

And it almost pains me to admit this, but, I have to be honest.  I don't think either of the film's young stars has the acting chops to carry the first part of the film off effectively (they're not alone.  I often feel this way watching first films, and it's why I'm terribly, tenderly indulgent).  They clearly lack the experience needed to bring a little more depth to that first part of the film, and as a result, they often come off as either terribly screamy and shouty (Amrita) or firmly and manfully reciting lines (Sunny).

But it's not for nothing that I have a blog category entitled "The Small Details Are My Cup of Chai" -- and if you look in some of the smaller corners of the film, you'll see lovely moments when both leads get things absolutely right, from Sunny's trademark winks, to the little kiss he blows at Roma when he thinks his mother isn't looking, to the wink Roma saucily tosses back at him, to their antics as they go about rebuilding the farm. 

2.  Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.  Except when it isn't.  Are you blind, woman?

I alluded to the film's sexual inuendo when I wrote about the snake-bite scene.  What I didn't say, and what I chose to avoid is, in fact, a whole heck of a lot of stuff that I've been writing in emails to Ness, wondering how in the world I was going to deal with it.

And I'm still not going to deal with it.

One of the things I wrote to Ness was that I couldn't decide if I was seeing all this innuendo because it was there, or because, well, I have some kind of weird or pervy mindset.

I think I've finally decided that yes, it is most clearly there.

I still find that very, very fascinating, because in some ways, it flies in the face of a lot of traditional thinking and misconceptions about sex and sexuality in Indian films.  And yet, in some ways, it clearly is trying to dance on a fence:  trying to set up its young lead as a new and hot sex symbol, without crossing a line into vulgarity or voyeurism, and if I'm generous and say it succeeds in staying on one side of the line, it's only by the smallist of margins.

And I'm not sure it actually succeeds.  You know what made me finally decide about this?  Screencapping.  I have some screencaps here on my computer, that, taken out of the context of the film, are pretty racy stuff. Heck, IN the context of the film, they're kind of racy. And I've decided it was intentional.  And I don't know what to think about that.  Except.  I did essentially say Sunny would have been my 80s pin-up boy, so maybe that's all there is to that.  Well, apart from the fact that I have to deal with how reverse-sexist that ends up sounding.

3.  Okay, Shammi is just doing his usual Shammi, right?

Yes, and he's playing a dad like I've seen Shammi play before.  And Nirupa Roy is still playing "Every Ma".  And Prem Chopra is, well, the bad guy.  And Annu Kapoor is the comic relief.  And yes, in fact, I have seen that before.

That said, too, I still found twists that I didn't expect, and some truly funny moments (watch Shammi's face the first time Roma pulls one of her fits, he's hysterical).  And Annu Kappoor is so sweet and gently funny.  And Nirupa Roy and Sunny have some lovely moments together.  All of this is true, too.

4.  When are you going to admit that you're wrong about this film?

Sigh.  I am wrong about this film.

And yet.  I'm still right about this film.

And it's leaving me feeling so very, very, very conflicted.  How can a film that troubles me so much still, in the end, be a film that I just adore when I watch it?  How can I overlook all its flaws (and some of them are not small ones), and still feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

5.  You lied, right?  It's not two Betaab posts you're going to write, it's three, right?

Yes, I suppose that's true.  Because somehow, I have to reconcile these seemingly opposing and disparate views of this film that I have.

 

What can I say?  Sunny is messing with my mind....

Comments

[Ness]

So what interests me the most (and I hope that's what you're going to address in POST 3) is how DO you adore it despite all the flaws that you choose to ignore? What IS it that you look for that outweighs the bad stuff and makes the tiny details glow? I totally get how that can happen, but I am yet to share your feelings about THIS particular film (as you know from aforementioned EPIC emails!)

[katherine]

Yes, that's precisely what Post 3 is all about. I'm about to get all up close and personal on the blog.

(No, okay, I'm just being silly, but yes, I'm going to get to that...and it may never change your feelings about the film, which is never the point around here.)

:-)

[nakhrewali]

I am oh so intrigued now! I like how much thinky thoughts Betaab is generating for you. Even if I don't know what you are talking about I am still enjoying reading them.

Interesting you say Barsaat had taming of the shrew moments - I didn't see them. At least not in the sense that Badal went out of his way to tame Tina. He just kinda took what she dished, remained pleasant, fought with her a bit and then she had a change of heart. But I'll wait for your entry to see what you mean.

[katherine]

Hee,see, I was running over the reasons why I think I adore this film, and I think one of them is precisely that, that it makes me *think* about all this stuff.

One of the things I do want to touch on at some point (likely with Barsaat) is why the this theme (and its variations -- I think Barsaat contains one of the variations on the theme, where the two partners are so passionate and headstrong, and love and hate are seen as two sides of one coin -- which I think is also there in Betaab, though not as successfully implemented) is so popular, when obviously it proves so very problematic for so many?

Why didn't Shakespeare's play end up sitting on a shelf like some of his less accessible history plays? Why does it, and its variations, persist on being something creative people want to explore -- from resettings of the original play, to musicals and films like "Kiss Me, Kate" to Betaab, to films like Kambakkt Ishq?

Why is it a theme that attracts us even as it repels us?

I think maybe I forgive Betaab because Roma is not actually tamed by anything Sunny *purposefully* does. The taming schtick doesn't actually work on her At All. So, for me, the snake-bite incident is really intriguing, apart from what we're maybe meant to read into it -- because Sunny isn't trying to do anything to break or change Roma at that point. *Circumstances* throw him into a position to do what is absolutely the right thing: save Roma's life. And is it that that changes Roma's attitude? Or is it something mystical, filmi, and magical associated with the snake-bite? (Because, you know, sometimes a snake-bite isn't just a snake-bite).

[nakhrewali]

Yes, I can see that. Sometimes finding movies that never intended to be analysed generate a lot of conflict and discussion is interesting!

I think we see the characters in Barsaat differently. I don't thin Tina ever hated Badal and I didn't see it on the continuum of the hate-to-love stories that Bollywood does either.

I know, I am always surprised at just how popular Taming of the Shrew really is? I can't recall now if I have read it (likely I did but have forgotten) but it seems kinda misogynistic and yet I really like this adaptation and 10 Things I Hate About You and probably others...WHY!? I know of but haven't seen Kiss Me Kate or KI.

In a way if we go back to Barsaat - it is the same really. Circumstances lead to Tina having to take care of Badal and in the process realise she loves him.

[katherine]

Bingo -- I think you've nailed what I'm finding similar between Barsaat and Betaab, the change in circumstances leading to the change in the relationship.

I think one day it will be really interesting to go back and compare the two films as launch vehicles for each of the Deol boys. I would do it this month, but I don't have Barsaat on DVD, only on tape, and I think some screencaps would be essential to highlight the similarities and differences.

I need to do one more watch of Barsaat, because I think I need to think a little bit more about Tina, who always tends to get short shrift when I think about that film. :-)

[nakhrewali]

Huh when I said "I really like this adaptation" above I had a link but that disappeared whoops. I was referring to the BBC one with Rufus Sewell. Anyway not the point of this conversation...

Ah I see. I shall have to watch Betaab sometime, and really you already convinced me to last post!

Ha well I can understand why but I enjoyed her anyway, probably because Badal himself never took her pranks seriously. He would always smile and shrug it off and because of him I could as well. If this was one of those movies (and there have been a few though I can't recall them right now) where the heroine does something bad to get back at the hero and the hero in turn does something back and they are both just making each other mad/hurting each other till one of them goes too far and *then* they have the revelation that they love each other...yeah not sure that would be as enjoyable for me as Barsaat was.

[katherine]

No, it's not one of those movies :-)

It's a lot of Roma doing a lot of stuff cos she's an insufferable rich snob, and Sunny brushing it off cos he knows he's not as worthless as she would have it just cos he's poor. There's a *wee* bit of back and forth at one point where Roma tries to up the ante, but then one moment where Roma takes things too far.

And it's that moment where in real life, Sunny would have walked away, but cos it's a film, we know it won't end like that.

The part of the film where he insists she rebuild the damage is kind of interesting, because Roma tries to laugh him off, saying her father will cough up some money to deal with it, and Sunny is of the opinion that money just doesn't solve all problems -- it's a bit of a running thread, Roma and her father believing that people can just be paid off and forget everything, especially when they're poor.

So, they don't immediately fall in love right then -- in fact, I think the *revelation* comes after the snakebite, when they start working on rebuilding the farm together. It's not sudden and immediate, it's when they're both nicer to each other and working together on something that the love creeps into it.

I think. But I've thought about this film so much the last couple of weeks I may be *overthinking* it.

[Sweta Asher]

I love Betaab! I saw it as a thirteen year old and it blew me away then, and still does now. It's visually a treat, Amrita Singh is spunky when she's a spoilt brat and remains spunky through the film - much after her brattish edges get softened by love. And Sunny Deol is so handsome, so strong, so gentle and so sexy... And their chemistry! The part after he saves her life, no dialogue, no song, just set in a montage to a sublime Background score by RD Burman, is my favourite part of the movie... I can happily watch Betaab over and over again...