Guru's Dakshina?. Review on Leela

Leela – yeh tumne kya kiya? Magar kyun? (Leela - What have you done and why?). One word sums up this movie – “pseudo intellectual.”

Imagine you are going to a fancy restaurant and see all those mouth watering display of gourmet dishes and the food that is served to you is bland, tasteless and uncooked. You feel cheated. This is exactly how I felt after watching Leela.

I would ''Not Recommend'' this movie. (Eleven out of Twelve fellow MSians who have reviewed this movie have Recommended it). Am I taking a risk in ''Not Recommending'' this movie? I do not think so. After having seen a recent flurry of some brilliant write ups on “Commenting on Reviews”, with a consistent theme of shooting the message and sparing the messenger, I feel like Captain Kirk and bold enough to continue.

Leela – The Story:

A visiting professor to a US university – Dimple Kapadia as Leela Dehlvi finds herself as an object of desire for an 18 year old sophomore – Amol Mhatre as Krishna Gyan. Dimple’s world consist of a philandering husband Vinod Khanna as Nashaad who regards Dimple as his muse, his inspiration for writing poetry. Amol’s world consists of divorced parents – a mom played by Deepti Naval as Chaitali Gyan who has difficulty in “letting go”, - a dad played by Gulshan Grover as Jai Gyan who resents Deepti’s domination of him and walks out on their marriage. His parents find local love elsewhere. Amol’s friends – Chip, JK and Alonzo (?) are typical American teenagers who enjoy partying, girls and sports.

Dimple’s and Amol’s worlds clash and the teacher-student relationship blossoms into friendship and ultimately leads to a one night stand.

The story ends abruptly.

Leela – The Movie:

The dialogues are in English with only the songs and the communication (both oral and written) between Vinod and Dimple in Hindi.

Directed by Somnath Sen based on the story by Kavita Munjal, the movie was entirely shot in the US (except for the opening scenes). A typical US college campus environment is portrayed along with the lifestyle of Indians living in the US (referred to as Desis). The movie makes an attempt to address some aspects of the Indian culture, the Western culture and the Desi culture (which is a hybrid).

Performances by Dimple Kapadia and the new comer Amol Mhatre are top notch. They are ably supported by the rest of the cast.

Age seems to have dulled the spark in Deepti’s performance – I would like to forever remember her as Miss Chamko.

Leela – The Music:

The music is by Jagjit Singh and he has sung couple of ghazals. Personally, the songs were ill-timed and hence I could not appreciate them. The ghazals, heard in isolation by themselves are a delight to the ear.

The Punjabi wedding song was a pain and frankly speaking I am tired of watching them – they are loud, garish and pictured on amateur artists who are an eyesore (and seem to be related to the makers of the film). Same comment would be applicable to the Navaratri dandiya dance too.

Leela – The Person:

Strengths:

Leela is an intellectual. She is shown as being well read and with a philosophical bent of mind as evident from her interactions with Amol where she quotes parables relating to Chinese monks and significance of “Guru Dakshina” (a students' offering to a teacher as a token of respect for knowledge imparted) by narrating Ekalavyya’s story.

While her friendship with Amol is blossoming, she imparts some tit-bits about Indian culture and code of ethics with reference to his relationship with his divorced parents.

Weaknesses:

Very briefly, she questions her own relationship with Vinod and then brushes it aside and accepts her role as a muse and an inspirational object.

From being a friend, philosopher and guide to Amol, in a moment of reckless weakness she succumbs to the needs of the flesh.

Is this a “Guru’s Dakshina” (teacher’s present) to her shisya (student)? Some food for thought.

If you must watch this pseudo-intellectual concoction, see it only for Dimple’s sake. Otherwise, give it the pass.