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#MovieReview #Rustom
Three Shots that shook the nation; #Rustom, a Movie based on real life drama, with the central theme of crime of passion, involving the very upper crust of metropolitan Mumbai., nee Bombay, set in a period not too long after the Britts made their first exit, held out a great promise. With @AkshayKumar playing the lead as Commander #Rustom, the real-life #Nanavati, the movie succeeds in retaining the interest of the viewers, never mind the several flaws and deviations from the original saga!
In the late 1950s, a Parsi naval Commander's bored on-shore wife, Cynthia, finds a lover in her absentee husband's friend. Predictably, the Commander, Rustom, returns unannounced from the seas and discovers the liaison. He walks to the house of his wife's paramour, Vikram Makhija, pumps three bullets into him and goes and surrenders to the nearest police station, confessing to having killed a man. An open and shut case, most would say! Sure to send the Commander to the gallows! But the story has only just begun. In real life, as in the movie, the case goes to trial by Jury as the Commander pleads Not Guilty on charges of murder. The movie is almost entirely made up of the court room drama on how the prosecution wants to prove it as a case of premeditated, cold blooded murder, while the defence vacillates between the principle of culpable homicide due to grave and sudden provocation and as an act of self defence.
During the trial, the rich and influential Parsi community, kicks up public sentiment in favour of one of its own Bawa log, the naval commander Rustom, through its powerful tabloid, RK Karanjia's Blitz, in real life, while the equally rich Sindhi community pumps in money to get the best prosecution lawyer, a young Ram Jethmalani in real life, and a conviction for Rustom. A spirited fight ensues between the two communities and what happens in the end is well known, but the treatment of the court room proceedings must be watched to relive the drama of the late 1950s.
The movie is carried beautifully by Akshay Kumar on his shoulders! True, he barely looks or talks like a Parsi, but come on, he didn't have to do that to portray the role of a cuckolded husband! He is, after all, a highly decorated, much travelled Naval Commander, married to a British born beauty, moves in the charmed Richie-rich, ball-room circuit of post-colonial INDIA still struggling with issues of snobbery! It's entirely probable that the original NanavatI was equally cosmopolitan in his demeanour!
The beautiful Ileana DeSouza, as the errant wife, sleep-walks through the film, her guilt laden role inducing such untold stress on her acting capabilities, that she just collapses under its burden! Makhija's sister, the vampishLH glamorous cigarette-in-an-ebony-holder smoking Esha Gupta, looks very much the part of a blood thirsty relative, but the promise of her role is never fully realised. Arjan Bajwa, as Makhija, looks every inch the Casanova that he portrays. Thematically, there is the huge irritant of the unsolved tangle of the Air Craft carrier and Rs. 5 crore deposit in the Swiss bank account. I mean, WHY was this sub plot introduced? Was it to sow doubts in our mind that Rustom was not such an honest guy as was made out by the tabloids and he staged all of this to find an exit and live happily ever after, once the ordeal was over? Hugely disappointing, in so much as the loose ends remain untied!
Even the role of Blitz/Karanjia is given almost a comical treatment, which is quite contrary to the truth! I remember my parents talking about the role of Blitz during the Nanavati trial and it was anything but comic! In Fact, it was the first instance of trial by media, this time in favour of defence! The Mother of all Trials By Media! The director has erred seriously in trivialising this and creating a caricature of the hawkish Karanjia! But maybe, we can dismiss it as creative licence of the director's.
The movie also misses the seriousness of the point of how the jury was so gullible in giving a very influenced verdict . Those were the days when the jury system prevailed! Members of the Jury, are ordinary people, drawn from various walks of society to perform their duty towards the State. They are impressionable, most amenable to public opinion, affiliations of caste,/religion, other peer pressures and not entirely objective! This verdict put in focus the vulnerabilities of the jury system and it finally led to its abolition.
However, as I say, a perfect movie is yet to be made! A movie has to entertain, be watchable, retain your interest in a what-next sense and must not challenge your intelligence! Well, not beyond a point! Rustom passes on all these counts, irrespective of the flaws! It captures the ambience of 1950s Bombay and is authentic to the extent of 7/10. But the credit for making it a good experience goes to Akshay and Akshay alone. For his sake and for keeping your faith in true love, go watch this movie! True Love? The real life Nanavati, as also Rustom, lived happily ever after in salubrious Canada with his errant wife for the next half a century, obviously forgiving her this minor indiscretion! Long live True Love.......
