‘Guzaarish’ Review By Komal Nahta

Hrithik Roshan lives the role of Ethan Mascarenhas. No amount of praise is too much to describe his performance of a paraplegic who is still so full of life that his appeal for death would seem a paradox in terms. Hrithik looks every inch the bedridden patient he plays and he acts with such aplomb that he makes himself worthy of every award for acting. Although Hrithik’s character in the film is without a solid backbone (which is why he is a paraplegic), his performance is the very backbone of the film. Aishwarya Rai complements Hrithik beautifully and wonderfully. She plays his nurse and caretaker excellently and she, too, would pick up awards galore for a job done exceedingly well. Aishwarya Rai also looks bewitchingly beautiful. Shernaz Patel acts with effortless ease. Suhel Seth is very good.Aditya Roy Kapoor is cute and leaves a mark. His true identity, revealed in the end, comes as a shock. Monikangana Dutta makes a confident debut as Hrithik’s ex-girlfriend, Estella. But she has a very tiny role. Rajit Kapur is efficient in the role of the public prosecutor. Vijay Crishna, as the judge, is sincere. Nafisa Ali is very good. Ash Chandler, as Aditya Roy Kapoor’s father, Yasser Siddiqui, makes his presence felt. Makarand Deshpande stands his own in a brief appearance. Achint Kaur, Mahabano Mody-Kotwal, Prahlad Kakkar, Priyanka Bose (bar singer-dancer), SanjayLafont (as FatherSamuel), Swara Bhaskar (as TV reporter Radhika Talwar), Aayam Mehta and Sujata Kumar lend able support.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s direction is marvellous but having said that, it must be aded that the film only has class appeal. His script (co-written with Bhavani Iyer) raises a lot of doubts and questions in the minds of the mass base of the audience. Music, composed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is not upto the mark. The ‘Udi’ song is a delight to hear and watch on screen but the other songs sound like poetry rather than songs. Although they seem relevant in the film, their audio appeal is limited. Lyrics (by A.M. Turaz, Vibhu Puri, Jagdish Joshi) may appeal in the film but they sound weird when one listens to the songs before watching the film. Longines Fernandes’ choreography of the ‘Udi’ song is splendid. Aishwarya Rai’s dance is just too wonderful! Sudeep Chatterjee’s cinematography deserves the fullest marks because the film looks like a picture postcard. Credit must also be given to the DI and visual effects work done by Prime Focus. Background music (Tubby) is heavenly. Sets (Acropolis, Sumit Basu, Snigdha Basu and Rajnish Hedao) are eye-filling. Production values are grand.

Watch More: ‘Guzaarish’ Movie Stills

On the whole, Guzaarish is a beautiful film for the classes but will face rejection among the masses. It will do excellent business in the good multiplexes and the big cities but not universally as it does not offer the entertainment which the masses look for in a film. Given its heavy cost, it would entail losses to its distributors (UTV). In short, its budget is its biggest problem.