English Vinglish (2012)

There was no one who could emote like Sridevi, and there never will be another like her. She took the most clichéd roles possible, roles that were such a slippery slope that in the hands of a less-talented actor, they would have been degraded into caricatures and parodies. But not with Sridevi. Take Sadma (1983), for example. Never for a moment did her portrayal of Reshmi feel like a mockery, and that made the ending so much more emotionally wrecking. Even Sheetal in Laadla started to feel like a proto-feminist icon because of the power that Sridevi brought with her. And that, my friends, is why Sridevi fans never stop being Sridevi fans, even the ones who were indoctrinated into becoming one.

English Vinglish was the movie that made me realise just how special Sridevi is. I had grown up watching her movies, since my parents and elder brother were diehard fans- there was an unspoken rule in our house that every time Mr. India (1987) came on, it HAD TO BE viewed. But, despite loving Mr. India to bits, Sridevi was always just my parents' favourite actress for me. It took Shashi Godbole for me to open my eyes and realise just how talented she was. Of course, a lot also had to do with how beautifully this script was written. It's the little things like Shashi not getting offended when Laurent compared her eyes to coffee (OH MY GOD GOALS I ALWAYS DIE EVERY SINGLE TIME I HEAR THAT LINE), and saying that she left because she was too stunned by the compliment that make your soul scream for Gauri Shinde to make another movie. I love how these two forces- Gauri Shinde's writing and Sridevi's acting- combined to give us this treasure. Shashi could easily have been the typical dishonestly-written filmy middle-class housewife who is so unrealistically submissive that it gets irritating after a while, and leaves one with no sympathy whatsoever for the character. But Shashi Godbole was her own woman- she was an entrepreneur even before she knew the word existed (I will never get over Salman bhai saying "shabd nahi ho gaya, ghazal ho gayi" which roughly translates to "this is more of a poem than a word"); she knew that she had both the required skills, and a capability for hard-work; she genuinely cared for the people around her and forged connections in a way that would put people who pride themselves on having "contacts" to shame; and most of all, she had the desire for self-actualisation that should ideally form the crux of feminist cinema, but is sadly lacking from most "feminist" movies. It's her strong will that made her internal conflicts believable, and it's why I always end up crying during her speech at her niece Meera's wedding. I mean, it's so rare to see the middle-aged protagonist getting her "coming-of-age" moment, that too in such a heart-felt and inspiring way, but without being exaggerated.

I think the biggest lesson I took from this movie, which I realised only when rewatching it this time, was that of kindness, especially when extended to strangers in public places. It's only when Shashi saw her own empathy mirrored in others' behaviours towards her, that she came to the realisation that there was a world out there which was appreciative of her unique identity, no matter how much her husband and daughter laughed at her. I also loved the bond between Shashi and Radha, her other niece. It was so warm and wholesome- it made me want to not just be a Shashi, but also a Radha. Oh, and I can't believe I forgot that Shashi Godbole said gay rights??? As my friend pointed out, SHASHI THAROOR WHO, I ONLY KNOW ONE TRUE ALLY. The India-Pakistan unity was another highlight- my god, if I could give this movie 6 stars on Letterboxd I totally would. After all, it's the best Bollywood movie to have been released post-2011 (the year when Hindi cinema completed 100 years of existence, and went into a slump that it shows no signs of recovering from, as the same friend mentioned earlier pointed out as well). 

Also, I just want to address the criticism that this movie routinely receives on social media, that Shashi should have dumped her husband and ran away with Laurent. First of all, do these people not see that Shashi had absolutely no romantic or sexual feelings for him? Sure, you can have the hots for Laurent, but do not project them on Shashi. Can these people not go beyond their obsession with love and sex, and realise that there is so much more a person's journey than just those two things? Why would Shashi abandon her kids, her mother-in-law (who she is very close to), her successful business, and yes, her husband, and run away with someone simply because he showed her basic decency? She only ever wanted respect, and her great epiphany was that she needs to respect herself for others to respect her too. She realises that she is indeed happy with who she is, that's the whole fricking point!! There's more to life than running away with an attractive man, and that's the lesson one needs to learn from Shashi's story.

In conclusion, it really is all about english-vinglish. And, as I texted a friend an hour ago- "KAHAN HAI TU GAURI SHINDE BAHAR NIKAL AUR PICTURE BANA". No, seriously, it has been 5 years since Dear Zindagi, when is she going to return??

PS- I think it's very cool of me to say that my favourite Amitabh Bachchan movie is English Vinglish.