A still from ‘Almost Pyaar DJ Love With Love’
There comes a stage in the career of filmmakers when they test their relevance in the minds of the young at heart. Director Anurag Kashyap seems to be going through this phase. Years later it broke the conventions of love stories. Dev Dhis latest attempt at renewal is a timely and meaningful but fragmented and almost laborious take on the perils of modern love across cultures.
Through two parallel narratives, where the same actors almost play the lovers, the film addresses the intolerance of faith and class relations, harmful patriarchy, and the vulgarity of the Internet generation. The admission of a caring but cynical and heterosexual elderly couple provides a disturbing sense of racial difference. Add to this a layer of predatory homophobic behavior and we have sequences that are disturbing. The way Anurag has attacked the idea of dignity is admirable and the disability of a Muslim in our society sends chills down the spine.
Having said that, Anurag couldn’t convert genuine concerns into a compelling screenplay. He remains more of an observer than a participant and therefore cannot empathize emotionally with the plight of the characters. I Love, Sex and Deception, Dibakar Banerjee got out of this dilemma by using the concept of found footage. Here, it works like a dramatic representation of a news story, running in unison with more than half a dozen Amit Trivedi numbers that seem to have the genetic defects of composition we’ve come to admire. Dev D And Manmarzian. Only Kranti will come only from love. Stays in the head because it captures the core emotion of the film. It is only love that can keep hate at bay.
The setting is interesting and the premise is promising. In Dalhousie, Amrita (Alaya F) finds a friend in the neighborhood when she befriends Yakub (Karan Mehta). The interfaith bond is tested when the two leave their house to watch a show by DJ Mohabbate (Vicky Kaushal). Amrita’s family, already worried about her talking to a Muslim, considers their daughter’s sudden disappearance a case of kidnapping and love jihad. In a parallel story, Ayesha (Alia F), the daughter of a shady Pakistani businessman, falls head over heels for Harmeet (Karan Mehta), a demure musician. As Ayesha is only on the verge of puberty, the relationship is not legal and Hermeet is humiliated in prison as a result.
Socio-political commentary has always been almost integral to the story in Anurag’s films, but here it is let loose. DJ Mohabbate, the thread between the two stories whose romantic vocabulary stretches between Ghalib and Gulzar, turns out to be a poor man’s romance that adds more saccharine than spark to the narrative and dilutes the experience. The comment on the generation raised by the internet is repeated after a point and so is the impersonation of a popular YouTuber by Amrita.
Kiran’s flaw works for this theme. As the hermit, he makes us appreciate the scars on his soul, and as Jacob, he justifies his austerity. Improving with each film, Alia is paired with both the idealistic but unrealistic Amrita, and the entitled but loving Ayesha. However, both are let down by uneven writing that is more issue-oriented than heart-felt.
Almost Love with DJ Love is currently playing in cinemas.
