Sep 17, 2003 06:00 PM
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(Updated Sep 23, 2003 11:08 AM)
'Love has many forms', so goes an old adage. It is only when love manifests itself in the form of relationships that we truly begin apprising its endowment and distinction, says me. Hitting the marquee this time is Joggers’s Park, a movie that dares to take an invigorating look at one such relationship- I would describe it as a relationship that best resembles a guitar, the music of which may go off now or then but the strings shall remain forever. An ineffaceable bond.
A QUICK JOG AROUND JOGGER’S PARK
A beckoning love story of two people- Jenny Suratwala (Perizaad Zorabian), a charming, bold and vivacious young lady who is a part time VJ-cum-model-cum-hotel manager and Justice (Retired) Jyotin Chatterjee (Victor Banerjee), a highly respected judge and a revered celebrity who has led a snail’s shelled life, partly owing to his engrossment with his profession and partly to his innate nature.
Its at Jogger’s Park that the two meet and reciprocal admiration and mutual respect blossoms. Justice Chatterjee discovers a whole new world through his conversations and companionship with Jenny. The camaraderie makes JC (Jenny gives him this name) realize that there is more to life than just the banal humdrums of morals, ethics, values and judiciary that backboned his life all along. Gradually he marvels at Jenny’s outspoken, effusive and audacious individuality and finds himself attracted towards her.
From here starts a beautiful journey of this relationship between the single, young Jenny and the 60 something JC. Divulging more would be giving it all away. So let me just bring in something that Oscar Wilde once said- 'Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring. Who, being loved, is poor?'
A STORY THAT JOGS INTO YOUR HEARTS
Jogger’s Park rides on a simple yet atypical storyline making it completely awe-inspiring. Written by Subhash Ghai, its the story of two people and continues to be the story of two people till the end without any vestiges of tangential digression. It has a certain freshness to it while it talks about relationships that do exist in our canonical and reactionary society. The contents of the story are rich with identifiable situations and realities. Ditto, the screenplay. Moreover, the dialogues compliment the requirements of every scene of the movie. Enough ingredients to make a story tick, me thinks.
HOW ABOUT THE JOGGERS?
Perizaad Zorabian moulds herself into the character of Jenny with proficient ease. She more than excels in portraying so very naturally the so-close-to-life character. She appears extremely comfortable in front of the camera and confidence oozes in liters from every pore of her skin. She is one actress holding a lot of promise. Check out- (a) the scene when she takes a phone call early in the morning after a night’s drunken binge and (b) her conversation with Victor Banerjee in the car before she gifts him a small souvenir.
Victor Banerjee comes up with a laudable performance as Justice Chatterjee. A competent actor to the core, he handles dialogue-less scenes with adroitness and control. His voice is a big plus and he is at sufficient ease with English delivery. On the flip side, he does go a little overboard in some scenes. Something that you must not miss is observing his body language. Notice it in the beginning, notice it when he meets Jenny for the first time, notice it as they become pals, notice it all along. Notice how he changes it to suit the new-grown change in outlook of the character of Justice Chatterjee.
The remaining cast lends the required support, none of who have lengthy roles.
AND THOSE BEHIND THE PARK?
Screenplay: A well-written screenplay of this movie keeps the journey of love between the two main characters flowing with requisite pace. A couple of minuses are (a) The interaction between Justice Chatterjee and some students in the beginning of the movie (b) Scenes showing common people going gaga over Justice Chatterjee as if he were Princess Diana (c) Jenny’s dance sequence.
Cinematography: Sanjay Nair is average with the camera but brings out some great close shots of conversations between Jenny and Justice Chatterjee. Sanjay Nair has a lot of room for improvement. Most angles he has used are straight shots without much focus on the elevation of the camera.
Editing: Editing of this movie is reasonably good though the editor’s efforts are better in the second half than in the first.
Music: Tabun Sutradhar's compositions are melodious, do not tantalize your ears and are hummable all along. As a musician, he has placed a lot of emphasis on the vocals. The pick of the lot is Ishq Hota Nahin.
Background Score: Suits the play of the film though the Adnan Sami number has been over-used.
Direction: The late Anant Balani amazes you with his acute ability to handle such a delicate and sensitive subject. He uses balanced measures of emotion, humour and sensitivity to craft a beautiful movie as this.
COLLECT THESE GEMS WHILE YOU JOG AROUND THE PARK
Observe the following to marvel at the freshness of this movie:
The depiction of SMS as a means of communication.
The character of Jenny is so true-to-life. We must've met one such girl sometimes.
Timely humour at the right places.
The subtle portrayal of Justice Chatterjee’s possessiveness in one scene.
Use of realistic dialogues.
GALLOPING HEARTS, JOGGING MINDS
Net-net, Jogger’s Park is a movie that has a strong foundation in its sound conceptualization. Its all about love, its all about being a child at heart, its all about using your maturity for the betterment of all who matter to you, its all about cherishing memorable moments, its all about celebrating the invaluable ability that we as humans possess, the ability to love.
There are times in our lives when our hearts gallop at the speed of light. It is at such times that we must also make our minds jog- for ourselves and for those who love us.
© Milind Gadagkar 2003
