Source: Youtube
Show's Name - Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005)
Creator's Name - Sudhir Mishra
Genre - Romance, Drama
Release - 15 April 2005
Runtime - 2h
Language- Hindi, English
Synopsis - Non-Spoiler Alert
The movie centers around three characters- Siddharth Tyabji (Kay Kay Menon), Geeta Rao (Chitrangada Singh), and Vikram Malhotra (Shiney Ahuja).
The story begins with them in the fiery phase of their youth. Siddharth has an aim and fires within to change the country. Geeta, a South Indian was from a sheltered home yet was attracted by Siddharth and was also intrigued by his perspective. Vikram on the contrary does not have many aspirations for revolution and is instead motivated to make it big. He is attracted to Geeta.
Geeta and Siddharth often have to face each other in the course of time when Siddharth has to make a choice between his ideologies and his love. He opts for the former over the latter. After some years, Geeta gets married to an IAS Officer, however, the marriage inside of it has a lot of loose ropes that eventually untie and the marriage collapses.
Geeta then goes on to stay at Bhojpur where Siddharth is and a lot of realities and tumult hits them. Vikram also gets involved in the chaos that follows. The movie unfurls over time with a lot of twists and turns and a beautiful juncture at which the story culminates.
An Adaptation?
The movie is not an adaptation as it is an original idea. The movie is set during the tumultuous times of the 1970s. The title however has been adapted from the infamous Mirza Ghalib poetry.
Themes Involved
The movie revolves around aspirations that revolve around politics, ideals, oppression, poverty, capitalism, and inequality with passion but the characters’ “bourgeois-by-birth” background is not totally escaped and at moments it becomes apparent.
The political background of the Emergency is also very evident and forms a turning point in the characters’ story.
Public Verdict
The movie received positive reviews and the performances, music, and script were extremely appreciated.
The movie was made with a budget of Rs. 4 crores and made Rs. 18.4 crores at the Box Office. The movie has stayed in discourse over time in cinematic circles but has also been cited from time to time for being far ahead of its time in the stance that it takes and for being very real.
The movie was screened at 12 film festivals including Turkey, Estonia, River to River (Florence), Berlin, Edinburgh, Washington, Goa, Bite The Mango (Bradford), Commonwealth (Manchester), India (Los Angeles), Dallas, and Pacific Rim (California).
What Makes It a Must-Watch?
The movie is indeed, as they call it, “way ahead of their times”. It is an honest and earnest portrayal of the realities and the dreams- personal and professional of the Youth and how far one is actually willing to go to achieve them. Hazaaron Khwahishein one does foster in their hearts but it is one’s zeal and commitment and prioritization that ultimately takes the forefront.
The hard-hitting performances and the fact that most stakeholders in the movie were debuting and did such mind-blowing, benchmarking work make the movie very special. Another very important aspect is the rarity of rawness that underlies the movie. Everything is aesthetic yet very raw and rustic, which makes it very real.
And of course last but not least, the music does hit the right notes and stays with you in both good and bad times.
The Bottom Line
A path-breaking movie that should venture out of the discourse in cine schools and circles that deal with a certain kind of cinema. The movie is meant for a wide audience and should reach a wide audience. The underlying thought of the movie and the rawness is what one should hold onto this piece of work for. The great performances are not only by the protagonists but also by the other characters.
The movie is about an art house gallery that gardened artists that ventured out to become not only famous but also repertoires of talent and knowledge.
My ratings for the movie - are 5 out of 5
You may watch the movie on YouTube
Written By - Ananya Verma
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