Turning 30

I don't know man. I had really high hopes with this one. I was looking forward to it so much that I had to forego my usual resolve of not watching movies at a multiplex to see this one (my local cinema was screening the crowdpuller instead of this urban flick). Despite my sacrifice, the movie failed to pack a punch. I'm sure this is an extremely personal view (possibly due to my unique mental make up) given that most people were pleased with the movie.

To its credit, Turning 30 was technically sound, looked good and had a great cast too. It was like one of those creations that has all the right ingredients of high quality and looks right, but doesn't feel right because there's something amiss. I am unable to place my finger on what was lacking, but I'll try.

One of the reasons I looked forward to the movie was that it was directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, trained in bollywood under the guidance of one of my favourites - Prakash Jha. Understandably her style is quite different, and I respect her for showcasing her own style rather than a copy of her mentor's. Yet, I did miss the complexities and subtleties that make Jha's movies exciting to watch.

Another reason I looked forward to the movie was that it was a take on a woman by a woman. I always feel women directors bring a different sensibility to their creations that I like to experience. Of course, I am not one for generalising. Each woman is unique in terms of the experiences that guide her in formulating and delivering a concept. For me, I did not associate with a lot of what was showcased in the movie at a personal level. So I must clarify that I decided not to analyse this movie from my own perspectives, but borrow the perspectives of friends I know have faced something similar and have similar priorities. This clarification is needed, I guess, to justify that my reasons for not liking the movie much are not that I did not identify with it. Such a judgement would be unfair. The movie was about Naina and her friends and there are a few Nainas in the real world that I could use as reference points.

The reason the movie did not go down well with me was a lack of treatment.
A lot was being shown in the lead character's life...it was all stringed together somehow and looked neat. But each scene could have said so much more if the story focused on something in particular. It looked like too much burden was put onto Naina's character, which had to deal with everything that could possibly go wrong at one point of time and dealing with it in all the possible grand ways (new love, breakthrough campaign, lawsuit, and book). And it all seemed to have been forced on to the character instead of occuring in a believable chain of events.

For instance, Rishabh (Siddharth Makkar)'s breakup with Naina made no sense to me at that point. In the rest of the movie he appeared to be a sensible guy with a reasonable character. The external factor of the hot girl-cum-business deal could have happened to him any and many a time over the three year relationship. I couldn't digest the fact that it happened at that time only. It was an external factor that was not supported well by internal complexities of the character.

What I was looking forward to was a movie that explored the inner tussles of a urban woman at the verge of turning 30 without having achieved all she had hoped for. Instead, I saw some external factors shattering her life at the verge of turning 30, which frankly could happen to me even at my age and might be equally devastating. To me, it might have been interesting to see Naina, still struggling at 29 to rise in the advertising world, afraid to settle down to a marriage, and scared at the sight of all her friends moving on ahead into lives and families of their own. That's a thought (mine of course, and in no way the only one)!

Again, when one life turning event-cum-solution would have been enough, the director gives us four. But none of them was explored enough in terms of what discoveries and issues it brought for Naina. I would have liked to see more of how developing the 'post 30 club' idea enabled Naina to come to terms with her own tussle. Or either of the other events (court case or book). Instead, each solution ended up eating away the other's limelight, leaving me with really little emotional context.

Might I add that the constant narrative blocked my entry into Naina's mind many times during the movie. It was bothersome, and at one point of time, I asked myself why the feeling was familiar. I realised that this was how I felt when I watched a documentary, except there I would in fact rely on the narrative for comfortable understanding.

Mind you, it didn't take me long to figure out (seeing Naina with a computer everytime she narrated) that she was writing and that it would culminate in some form of print. But I really could have done with less of the narrative and more of gestures, expressions and dialogues that would guide me through her emotional journey. For instance, the lingerie shopping scene could have carried so much weight. It is one of the most eye opening and intimate experiences a woman has. But other than the 'wonder bra', nothing real emerged from the scene. And then there was the dialogue - 'the best solution to a break up is a haircut'. It looked so good in the trailer, but in the movie it came after the haircut and just failed to create the same magic.

Speaking of that dialogue, I loved the performance of Jeneva Talwar. I've been a fan ever since I first saw her in Bombay to Bangkok. I think she brought out beautiful nuances even in her stereotypical role in Turning 30. On the other hand, the performance by Tillotama Shome failed to impress me much. I failed to feel any emotional struggle in her 'I am a lesbian' scene. I even felt like she was checking out the camera from the corner of her eye in a scene or two, which was quite distracting. Purab Kohli did a good job; the absence of his character might not have been missed by me though.

I didn't pay much attention to the music, but I must mention the 'item song'. I am so glad to finally get an item song based on a 'item boy'. It was really refreshing to see someone turn over the stereotype, and made sense to be included in a movie that broke the barriers by ushering in a new genre of Hindi cinema revolving around single friends (similar to what the series Friends did in the US). This is something I would like to congratulate the director on.

Well, despite some directorial hitches, the film does emerge with a chique look. All said and done, I do not regret watching the movie. Who knows, I might even enjoy watching it a second time, in the company of a Naina of my own.