“I was this second best
always. But overtime I realized this is how I am!”- says Arjun kapoor aka Sidharth
Malhotra.This dialogue just changed the perspective
with which I entered the cinema hall to watch ‘Kapoor & Sons’. Needless to
say, the best motivation to watch the film was ever charming, hot and simply
adorable Fawad Khan whom I loved since ‘Zindagi Gulzar hai’.
Tears rolled down my
cheeks making me choke – did I just hear second best? sigh! this constant hidden
struggle between siblings to be perfect, to be most loved kid was so real, so
raw that I couldn’t help but find my own self in Sidharth’s character. He is
not successful rather struggles, changes jobs like hobbies. He hits the first
chord rightly by saying- “Why papa didn’t call me?” Though he doesn’t get
answer but he simply goes with the flow. His eyes are like window to his heart
divulging constant want for attention, love and validation from his parents who
showers the same to elder brother Rahul aka Fawad Khan. There is no denying
fact that he was like ideal son- a successful novelist, financially sound, peace
maker of house, takes care of his family and a charmer in his own ways but his
perfectness has adverse effect on his brother ‘the second best’.
Interestingly this fact
is emphasized in various scenes, when both come back to their home, Rahul’s
room remains same with things undisturbed whereas Arjun’s room is taken away! I
don’t think that was intentional but it hurts. Somehow I couldn’t detach with
Arjun’s character as it reflected all the pain that I suffered, all the
struggles I went through in my life. I remember my dad saying, “You are not
giving your 100%, to achieve success you should keep working hard, harder till
your body just say you can’t do more”. I never understood this as I tried,
tried harder to really push myself. Every time I fell, I was alone, there was no
one who came to me to just say that it’s okay, you can always rise and win. I
was termed as brash, loud and every demanding girl who did nothing but just
asked for things- I was constantly comparing with my sister who literally did
what dad says and needless to say she achieved whatever she did!
Among the various
twists and turns, the movie perfectly balanced the insecurities with the
pressure to sustain the ‘perfectness’. In one of the conversations where Rahul
says, “I am ready to switch places with you” which is easily laughed away by
Arjun. In yet another scene, Arjun refuses to believe that his mother can be
angry with Rahul, “Tu aisi koi galti nahi kar sakta ki maa tujhse naraz ho
jaye, tut oh perfect hai, sab sahi karta hai.” It seemed me and my sister were
talking to each other, damn why is it so true!
However movie portrays ‘the
perfect one’ succumbing to the
expectations when Rahul says to his mother- “thak gaya hoon perfect ban ban ke,
mein nahi hoo perfect” Strangely there is nothing like perfect or imperfect, it’s
a mere structure woven out of human emotions and social expectations- this tug
of war just makes you estranged with the people you love! And we forget this
virtue of love and engage in the competition of being more perfect than other
even in our families.
Another star point of
this film was how empathetically Rahul’s sexuality was portrayed in the film,
his coming out in front of his family was a breath of fresh air in Hindi
cinema. The beauty of the dialogue touches me when he says, “I can ask for apologies
for all the lies, dishonesty and things that I have done, but how can I ask for
sorry for who I am!” I always believed in
honesty but find it difficult to practice as I fear that it might hurt people,
can damage relations and bring chaos in life- yes it does that but a hidden
truth does more damage! It kills relations, poison life and above all
suffocates the person hiding the truth and once a long hidden truth is out in open
can forge the life forever. The script of the movie beautifully woven
in terms of writing enlarges this fact!
Kapoor & Sons is intense and skillful
craft
about a family full of uncomfortable secrets, real jealousies and sharp pain
where siblings lie, parents cheat, family that hides truth and perfect kids who
don’t have perfect love lives. Kudos to the director and writer Shakun Batra
for putting up this brilliant film that talk about family, sibling
relationships at large and homosexuality in the most surreal and honest way.
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