Das seltsame Schicksal des Arvind Desai

Saeed Akhtar Mirza's 'Arvind Desai Ki Ajab Dastan'(The strange Fate of Arvind Desai) is an intense journey through the 1970's Mumbai. The movie begins with a portrayal of the silk/handicraft textile workers of a village and moves onto the life of Arvind Desai, an young handicrafts businessman, born with a silver spoon.

Mr.Desai struggles at both home as well as at business, and spends most of his time in wandering around the city in his posh car. These frequent escapades from the clutches of an authoritarian father as well as an equally uninspiring business forces him to seek solace from two women: one his lover and another a prostitute.He also often visits his intellectual friend Rajan, a teacher who believes in Marxist ideology. Even though he fails to show any interest in their highly loaded discourses, he sits patiently and listens to their long doctrines on 'class' and'society'.

This existential crisis of Arvind Desai is the soul of the film. Saeed Akhtar Mirza, like his other films 'Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hain?(Why does Albert Pinto get angry?)' and Mohan Joshi Haazir ho! (Mohan Joshi is present at the court!), has titled this film too in a similar way. The very title itself catches our attention and makes us curious enough to find out about the strange fate of Desai.

Considered one of the best works of Idian Parallel Cinema, it showcases a rich array of actors like Om Puri, Rohini Hattangadi, Sreeram Lagoo and Satish Shah. David Dhawan, who plays the young title character is not a familiar face to me, but is so convincing in his role.He acts like a more mellowed actor.

Virendra Saini's cinematography is yet another promising feature of the film.It bagged a filmfare critics award in 79 for the best director too..

7 stars..Grab a copy of the film as soon as you can!!

This movie is a rare gem in Hindi Cinema by Saeed Akhtar Mirza. Although it doesn't seem to have a coherent plot, it still keeps you hooked on till the end. It has a very distinct visual style keeping your senses engaged all the time.

The opening sequence is one the most memorable from what I have seen. The craftsmen in a village are shown engaged in creating intricately designed carpets. The scene beautifully shifts from the village to a posh handicraft shop in a prominent Bombay locality where these carpets are kept for sale. We hear the tourists going gaga over the wares of the shop - and a sale is made. The journey from the producer to the consumer is complete.

Arvind Desai is the young and suave owner of this business that he has taken over from his father. He clearly is rich, seemingly well educated and is dating his secretary-Alice from work. His staff at the store, Mahesh who is his cousin and Gopal, lack respect for Arvind specially since he is rarely seen at work.

Arvind doesn't seem to like his work and is seen for most of the time loitering around Mumbai in his car. Mumbai itself is an important character in the movie and gets a lot of screen-time. The sights and sounds of Mumbai in the late 70's is nicely captured in the movie. Although Arvind is uninterested in his fathers business he is not clear with what he exactly wants his in life.

The turbulence in his mind increases as the movie progresses. He is unable to see his cousin Mahesh start his own racket by selling goods at lower prices to customers. The profits dwindle and he is unable to take the pressure from his dominating father. He doesn't take his own decisions and is still controlled by his father as can be seen from the fact that he doesn't fire Mahesh even if he wants to. Arvind also breaks up with Alice over a silly argument, questioning whether he really loved her in the first place. Later he is forced into an arranged marriage which he accepts.

Unable to take control over his life and make proper decisions, he gets disoriented. As well put by his Marxist friend, there is quite a disconnect in terms of his thinking and his actions. Even though Arvind seems to have the right thoughts and ideals he doesn't ever act on them. Examples of this are seen throughout the film.

The film ends in the most enigmatic way staying true to the title. Arvind's ways continue to baffle. But in the end that could be said about most men- even though we seem rational, we continue to make confounding and irrational choices. Arvind never really comes of age in the movie, and maybe will never be able to make the transition. Do watch the movie as it will linger in your mind for days.