By Neha Dwivedi:
“The town was paper, but memories were not.” Our brain , an organ of soft nervous tissue contained in the skull of vertebrates has the tendency to treasure the most important features of our life – memories. Our inability to overpower them has always disappointed us while holding them has brought us pain. Memories fail us when we need them the most yet we continue being entertained by them.
What are our memories to us? Are they just a lifeline to our future or a declining part of us? Listen Amaya, a film on memories, love, emotions and friendship, answers it all. There is something about the movie that pulls you towards it. The innocence and charisma of the actors captivates you, making you wonder ‘how could somebody make such a movie?‘ While I love every bit of the film, there are few things that made me write this piece.
Be a free spirit
How many of us have the effrontery to slap our boss? Well, Amaya (Swara Bhaskar) does. On being asked to sleep with him, she doesn’t just slap him but also fires herself. Bound within the chains of life, we have carved a convenient place for ourselves in society. The very thought of people judging us by our actions scares us, forcing us to swallow the injustice lest your character might be questioned. We all think of fighting for our rights but how often do we do that? Listen Amaya might not be an inspiring film but it teaches you to be a free soul, someone who is not apprenticed by the insensate rules of society. So, dear ladies, stop being someone you are not .Be yourself, be Amaya.
Love over the coffee table
“A lot can happen over a cup of coffee.” Did someone ever mention coffee table? While love can happen anywhere, love over coffee table sounds quite intriguing. Listen Amaya isn’t just about Amaya; it is about two people who have spent the most beautiful days of their life alone, falling in love. Late Farooq Shaikh and Deepti Naval make an adorable couple. Director’s portrayal of the couple at the beginning of the movie misleads you, making you believe that they are married only to be told later that they are two people with difficult pasts who meet at the cafe and click instantly. The chemistry of Jazz (Farooq Shaikh) and Leela (Deepti Naval) mesmerizes you, reminding you of the age old saying “love has no age, no limit and no death.”
Modernity V/s Insecurity
While we have advanced in terms of technology our minds are still trapped in conventional world of pros and cons. We can’t help feeling sorry for Amaya while she struggles to accept that her widowed mother has fallen in love. She in her angst accuses her of betraying her father, asking her ‘if it is just the sex’. Her inability to respond despite numerous pleas from her mother embarks her struggle with inner self. While your mind accuses her for being selfish, your heart cries for her.
The fear of losing somebody
“It happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding.
The fear of losing someone is incisive. All the three characters have lost the people they loved the most. Amaya has lost her father and Leela has lost her husband. Jayant on the other hand has a very sad story. We travel into his story through the eyes of Leela while Amaya sulks on discovering that her mother brought another man to her bedroom. The movie makes you realize that memories, no matter how stinging and painful they are, keep coming back, either through stories or food. Listen Amaya teaches us to make new memories without forsaking the old.
Who said time doesn’t stop
“Ek lamha, kahi jashn, kahi janaza”. We all talk about time hasting away, taking away people we love the most, then why do we try to hold it? Listen Amaya introduces us to the concept of time which doesn’t just decide our fate but also the kind of memories that will sail with us. Rizwan bhai, a watch repairer in the old lanes of Chandni chawk gives you an interesting insight into the world of time. A man in his late 70’s, he showers his intellectual words on Farooq Sheikh. He says ‘Ghadi ek musafir ki tarah hai, jaha dil aaya chal dien, kisi pe dil aaya ruk gae’. His comparison of time with travellers is astounding. We assume time to be immortal. What we do not realize is that it stops; it stops when we are lost, when we lose a certain part of us. Then it proceeds, just like a traveller without being bothered about the abruptness.
A story inside a story
As I am watching the movie, I soon realize that the movie is an amalgamation of various stories and the one of them is the ‘story of the busy bazaar’. We sail on a journey of memories through Jayant’s photography. All his photos are black and white – the basic shades of life. While colours play a major role in life, black and white define our emotions. Jayant here tells you that it is okay to be angry as anger is a beautiful emotion. Although you do not get to see much of Jayant’s photography, his ideas about people make you fall in love with the movie all over again.
“No matter who you are, where you belong and what language you speak, everyone at the sometime or the other, has always said I remember when…” The film is a journey, it’s a saga of three people stuck to their memories. It’s a film about hope and love. It might not inspire you but it surely forces you to retrospect. I don’t remember the last time I watched a good movie but I can assure you that Listen Amaya is the finest.