The weather in Dublin has been an absolute drag on the soul. Colourless skies, intermittent rain, high winds. And just to drill it in further, the sun peeked out a few times, bathing everything gloriously golden, before quickly retreating to its mansion in the clouds. Given this setting, I wanted to watch movies that would cheer me up a little. Tu Hai Mera Sunday and Barakah Meets Barakah did that for me.
Tu Hai Mera Sunday (Hindi)
Lately, I have been trying to dig out more indie Hindi (and other languages) movies. Not only are they more refreshing but also more realistic. Tu Hai Mera Sunday meets both those points.
It all begins with five fast friends, Arjun, Domi, Mehernosh, Jayesh, and Rashid, who are ardent football players. They meet every Sunday for a game on Juhu beach. One of these Sundays they happen to bump into an old man. He appears lost, and Arjun, the good boy of the group, decides to bring him along to their game. In a funny, but unfortunate, turn of events, the old man hijacks their game, and kicks the football which lands on someone’s head. That someone happens to be important enough to ban football games on Juhu beach. Thus begins their quest to find a small piece of land where they can play in peace.
The search for their own space forms the backbone of the movie. But most importantly, it becomes a metaphor for their personal lives as well. We find that each of them have their own individual issues to deal with, things they are struggling with. Mehernosh hates his boss for treating people badly, especially the receptionist at his work whom he has a crush on. He gives vent to his anguish through secret letters filled with the filthiest of expletives that he writes to his boss but never posts. Domi loves his mother but chafes under her constant cosseting similar to Arjun who lives with his sister’s family, and has to put up with her domineering presence. Jayesh is never at home with his family in both senses of the phrase. Rashid is still under the melancholic throes of a lost love. All of them are looking for space, for their own little undisturbed corner where they can play their own game.
The joshing around among the friends was easy, the dead-pan humour sliding in and out in conversations thick and fast. The chemistry between them and the banter in typical Mumbai Hindi keeps it real. I felt like I was watching the daily lives of some ordinary Mumbaikers, the little frustrations and small joys. Tu Hai… is truly a smoothly panned shot of a city that is known for its fast-paced life, a resilient spirit, and liberal-minded outlook.
But that is also one of the many cliches that the movie has. The five friends form a too-perfect picture coming from five different religious backgrounds. The denouement of the movie is quite obvious from the beginning. And then there is the trip to Goa, which I thought was far-fetched and contrived. To top it all, their issues appear to be solved all too easily due to a big outburst from Mehernosh asking some pertinent questions.
Nevertheless, it does not get in the way of entertainment. Tu Hai… keeps you engaged and laughing till the very end, even during the fights among the friends, and you come away uplifted and in good spirits. Isn’t that one of the duties of a good movie?
Rating: 3.5/5
Barakah Meets Barakah (Arabic)
Saudi Arabia is slowly, ever so slowly, opening its doors to the world. Just last week, it announced the launch of its first cinema in Riyadh with Black Panther getting the honour of being the first movie to be screened. This week it held its first fashion week albeit with male escorts compulsory for the women. Friends who are close to me know about my fascination with the Middle East especially with countries like Saudi Arabia, where expression is a matter of life and death. So, when I came across Barakah Meets Barakah, touted as Saudi Arabia’s first rom com, I naturally couldn’t resist watching it. In my recollection, I have only seen one other Saudi Arabian movie, which was Wadjda, the the first Saudi Arabian movie directed by a woman, and I remember enjoying it quite a bit.
In the current movie, Barakah (Hisham Fageeh) is a good-natured civil servant whose job is to drive around and fine people breaking municipal laws. On one of his rounds he meets Bibi (Fatima Al Banawi), who is an Instagram sensation. She is the daughter of a rich boutique clothing shop owner. Barakah is smitten by Bibi and tries to find ways to get to know her better.
Simple enough romcom, you think? Throw Saudi Arabia into the mix, and it just attained various levels of complexity. Romance plays out differently in this country where interactions are highly controlled. And if you happen to be particularly rebellious minded like Barakah with his liberal thoughts and afro hairdo conveniently hidden under his keffiyeh or Bibi who takes to Instagram to fight for everything ‘real’ like fairtrade coffee then it’s doubly troublesome.
The movie’s brilliance lies in its wry humour, which you realize is layered with reality. Take the message that the movie displays at the very beginning, for example – “The pixelation you will experience during this film is totally normal. It is not a commentary on censorship. We repeat, it is not a commentary on censorship.” A subtle dig that tells us how how Saudis are limited to myopic and half-formed experiences for many things. Couched in whimsy, the movie does a splendid job of bringing up multiple issues to the fore ranging from polygamy to dating to superstitions to the state of its municipalities. Small touches like the pixellated woman’s face on an ad on the street, Bibi dancing for her Instagram video, Barakah dressing up as Ophelia complete with his beard are just some of the moments where the movie shines.
It’s evident that Barakah Meets Barakah was made by intellectual filmmakers. Director Mahmoud Sabbagh and Hisham Fageeh are graduates of Columbia University while Fatima Al Banawi is a Harvard graduate with a background in gender studies. Their aim was to highlight the struggles of an average Saudi citizen while showing them for what they really are. I think the movie has succeeded in that. The people of Saudi are not what we think they are – stuffy, narrow-minded, serious. They are fun, they are good company. They are like us.
Rating: 4.5/5
