Book Review: Two Tales of My Times

[Priyank]

Off late there have been quite a few books arriving on shelves with the name 'Gulzar' gracing the cover. While two of them have been biographies ('Echoes & Eloquences - The Life and Cinema of Gulzar' by Saibal Chatterjee and 'Because He Is' - on a reprint - by Meghna Gulzar), the latest is 'Two Tales of My Times'. However, this time around the content is quite unique as instead of taking a reader through the personal and professional life of Gulzar, this Devina Dutt 'translated' book presents to the reader two of Gulzar's most respected and critically acclaimed scripts - New Delhi Times and Maachis.

Script reading in its original format may not be a common man's idea of appreciating its content, flow and narrative. On a lighter vein, sometimes even people from within the film industry may not really demonstrate sound 'script sense', so one can't say much about the uninitiated. This is why to make matters simple; Devina Dutt presents both New Delhi Times and Maachis in a smooth story narrative format.

Coming to the choice of scripts, while Maachis indeed is a very good story to revisit, it is the brilliance of New Delhi Times which makes one sit up and take notice of the cinematic movement that began in the late 70s/early 80s. Films like Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, Aaj Ki Awaaz, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, Inquilaab, Main Azaad Hoon, New Delhi Times and many more of this genre threatened to explore the ugly face of politics and law which was the cause of quite some unrest amongst the country's youth.

If Amitabh Bachchan's films in the 70s raised questions around growing unemployment in the country, the aforementioned films raised a pertinent question - "Is this our government? Why do cops survey and inspect us like rulers? Are they from the same land as us? This country does not seem to be ours and this government too is not ours?" Gulzar saab does raise these questions, though cinematically in one of the most crucial scenes in Maachis.

While Maachis exposed how terrorism seemed unstoppable in Punjab after Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984, New Delhi Times is a brilliant piece of writing which remains relevant till date. It demonstrates to the reader the real (and sometimes helpless) face of media which in spite of being true to the profession is made to compromise due to external forces involved. How media, politics and corporate houses are forced to tread on the same path even though not everyone involved may be willing to be a path of the same journey is brought to fore in New Delhi Times.

New Delhi Times is set in a drama genre with moments of thrills interspersed in the story to make it an involved exercise. What makes New Delhi Times stand out is the fact that majority of scenes are quite short, in fact not more than 3-4 minutes long, which makes one eagerly turn around pages to see what happens next. There is a smooth flow of narrative in spite of numerous characters involved in the story with not many consecutive scenes involving participation from the same characters.

On the other hand Maachis is a tale of pathos which forms a strong current in the narrative in spite of bullets, guns and bombs making an appearance in short intervals. Though one does miss frequent flashback sequences, which is the hallmark of Gulzar's writing, the depth in scenes displayed through short dialogues and conveying of emotions through expressions and body language (detailed quite well) makes for an engaging experience.

None of the two stories offer a solution; they cannot since the films deal with fundamental issues revolving around politics, law and law enforcers and hence can't have a 'heroic' ending to them. Still, a revisit to these films does make one reflect back on the times our country had and the place we live in today. Especially in case of New Delhi Times, it is hard to identify any differences around the socio-political scene in the 80s and the current century.

No, one can't claim that reading this book may turn a segment of readers into revolutionaries but the least it manages to do is not turn out to be a frivolous piece of fiction which one reads, gets entertained and forget! Yes, there are a couple of 'cinematic liberties', if one can afford to use the term in a book, in both New Delhi Times and vMaachis but that doesn't in anyways deviate the stories from the basic issues they try to raise. Also, at places where liberties could have been comfortably used to ensure a happy ending, Gulzar clearly steers away. On the contrary a reader sees the Editor of New Delhi Times helplessly seeing the degradation of the system around him while the lead protagonist of Maachis seeing death as the ultimate healer!

Strength of 'Two Tales of My Times' is that stories are broken down into short scenes, as they play in the movie, with characters communicating with each other through body language and dialogues, as they would do in real life. Of course one does get a sense of the scenes playing right in front of you (that's actually the intent as well), hence making for a unique experience.

There aren't many publications which are enthused about giving prominence to scripts of films and presenting them in a well designed book format. Still Rupa & Co. make sure that these scripts by Gulzar saab are made available for all to read, cherish, learn, dissect and admire - in no particular order!

Price: Rs. 395

Rating: ***1/2

[ND49]

did u really expect sum1 to read all this?It's so fckin long