"So this is a love story!" says the wry cop at the end of the film while closing the case that exonerates our hero 'One-Shot Nandu' of accidently blinding Pinky Palkar in a car accident.
Indeed "Lafangey Parindey" (LP) is a love story. And how grotesquely indecorous has been the marketing of this tender and shimmering look at an improbable love in the slums between a free-wheeling boxer and wannabe roller-skating spitfire gone blind.
Deepika Padukone gives to the tale the kind of fluent grace and eloquent spin that the audience associates with the female legends of celluloid, namely Meena Kumari and Nutan. Deepika brings the poignant lyricism of the former and the spirited delicacy of the latter into what's unarguably one of the best-written female characters in recent times.
When Pinky goes blind all of a sudden, she doesn't flutter her eyelashes and trip over furniture like any self-respecting blind diva in our cinema would. She quickly picks up the pieces of her shattered life, and yes, also the rollerskates and leaves home to a sniggering brother's taunt and a concerned mother's encouragement to renew her dreams.
The above is one of the many finely-written and worded sequences in this film suffused with a delicate charm and infinite wisdom.
Neil Nitin Mukesh has a tough thankless role. Not only is he that archetype known as the 'Supportive Lover' in the script he must also move back in every other sequence to let Deepika walk away with the best expressions and dialogues. Neil never over-steps his boundaries. As the shy fighter who needs the blinded sports-girl's clairvoyant spirit to take him on the road to love more than she needs him to cross that traffic-laden road which she can't see, Neil gets the lower notes in the scale of the love symphony right.
While the two protagonists' journey into love via a dance contest ('Rab Ne Banadi Jodi' revisited) takes centrestage in Pradeep Sarkar's deftly-cut material, the peripheral characters also get enough space to have their say aggressively without getting hysterical.
A film set in the ghetto is bound to remind the audience of Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" and Vishal Bhardwaj's "Kaminey". Sarkar dodges both and goes for the most unexpected reference points, namely Douglas Sirk's "The Magnificent Obssession" and its desi spinoff Gulzar's "Kinara". As in "Kinara", the hero is on a redemptive route taking the blinded girl through the corridors to her dream. It's a journey undertaken with great warmth, tenderness and loving care.
The dialogues convey a streetside sauciness without getting abusive. Street wisdom need not be eeks-rated.
But hang on. LP is not soft at the edges. Pradeep Sarkar brings to the storyboard a gritty edge-of-the-street desperation that miraculously accommodates a very supple love story.
In a moment that can only be defined as tragic-comic, one of the hero's friends walks away with one of the most expressive lines in this film. After Pinky goes blind the friend says, "Ek minute mein Hema Malini se Thenga Malini ban gayi."
The reference to Hema Malini is not lost in a film that takes Gulzar's "Kinara" to another shore.
The scenes are written by Gopi Puthran with utmost concern for a pitch that conveys high passion without toppling over. Deepika looking into the sky with a lovelorn look in her unseeing eyes asking Neil to describe the moon is a moment that is priceless and poignant.
Cinematographer C. Natarajan Subramanian shoots with loving care. LP is an inspirational tale told with as little fuss and as much feeling as cinematically possible. Not to be missed.
Pradeep Sarkar after delivering a critical and box office success with his debut feature Parineeta had faltered in his next one, Laga Chunari Mein Daag but with Lafangey Parindey he has managed to get back in form and has succeeded in giving masala entertainer. The only thing that goes against it are the predictable plot points and the slow pace. But despite its few flaws LP is still worth a watch for its unusual lead pair Neil and Deepika and good direction aided by nice music.
Nandan Kamthekar aka One Shot Nandu (Neil) works for Usmaan bhai (Piyush Mishra) as a fighter for his betting games. In the Tilakwadi basti that he lives in Mumbai, also stays Pinky Palkar (Deepika) an ace skating dancer who aspires to win a TV reality show contest and break out of the lower middle class life. A botched up job for Usmaan bhai along with his mentor Anna (Kay Kay Menon) leads to a big mess for Nandu. Pinky’s life changes over night too as all her dreams get crashed with her accident that leaves her blind. Circumstances lead to Nandu helping out Pinky and teaming with her to participate in the talent hunt show which she always dreamt of winning. How it changes all equations for Nandu and the people connected to him forms the rest of the plot!
Pradeep Sarkar should be commended for opting for a completely different genre to the female oriented subjects he has been adept at. However, Sarkar has ensured his female lead’s character is pretty strong enough. The Mumbai chawl setting appears authentic and so do the characters inhabiting it. The action and skate dance sequences have been imaginatively shot. The songs too don't act as speed breakers. The only major flaw of the enterprise is the sense of déjà vu one gets of films like Jeetendra – Hema Malini starrer Kinara and Aamir Khan’s Ghulam. But then that is a minor flaw, as the screenplay is infused with plenty of good moments that need to be experienced on screen.
Neil Nitin Mukesh convincingly adapts himself as a Mumbai tapori despite his suave persona befitting a rich dude. Deepika Padukone is only getting better with each film and with this one she treads successfully on a difficult character graph. She is effortless in her blind girl act and very good in emotional scenes. Piyush Mishra as the bad ass don is super cool in his act and is fun to watch mouth some really acidic lines laced with humour. Kay Kay Menon in a short but significant part is effective. All the actors playing Neil’s friends are very good. Manish Choudhary (last seen in Rocket Singh) playing a Police investigating officer delivers a fine act too. The two kids of Tilakwadi are hilarious to watch, especially Ameya Pandya in his tapori kid act.
R.Anandh’s music is fresh with Man Lafanga and Dhatad Dhatad being the pick of the lot. N. Natarajan Subramaniam’s cinematography is good and captures the dark night Mumbai sequences well. Editing by Sanjib Dutta however could have been better as the film drops pace in regular intervals. Bosco Caesar’s choreography is innovative.
Do give Lafangey Parindey a chance. It is definitely not a waste of time. Its characters succeed in endearing themselves to you. It may not be an ace but its still a quality product from Yash Raj Fims and marks the return to form of Pradeep Sarkar.
