Any kind of cliche or obvious point has a magnetic effect on criticism, when it comes to any piece of art. Exception being sex. Sex can be repeated as a theme mindlessly and no one complaints. Most of the bollywood movies use this formula. Sex is the sone di doll indeed in this peetal di industry.
Queen also constructs itself on cliche and rhetoric. Movies starting with hustle and bustle of an Indian wedding? Really? I was rolling my eyes already. Cold feet Indian groom, weeping bride and her father. Tell me something new.
But queen is different. The first scene where we hear her thoughts to herself, we are reminded of how we were. It's something so alien yet so close to our heart. Queen is a part of us which we all have and in the times when to acknowledge being naive and simple is deemed a confession to a crime, it comes as a surprise which brings a little nostalgic smile. I was tempted to write "comes as a breath of fresh air" but unfortunately I do not remember what that feels like anymore.
Excellence in the craft of acting should be judged by the scenes where emotions and expressions prevail over words. I feel that in a movie we all form a bond with the protagonist. A relationship of sorts.When you communicate with each other in silence and find comfort in it, only then can you associate epithets such as beautiful and special to that relationship. Relationship which audience forms with Rani is both beautiful and special. The scene where she expresses herself at the cafe when the groom freezes her soul with his cold feet, it crosses the line of genius by a mile.
Queen is about freedom. A freedom which the women of our nation now seek. A freedom which is a mystery to our women. A freedom which dies down under the smothering disguised as "affection and care" of the Indian families.
What I want to bring across is that this movie very clearly brings out what the women want the freedom "From". From the regressive society, from the traditions which ties them down. We all know that. We all always know what we want the freedom from, from our abusive bosses, from the routine, from the boredom, from the corruption and so on. In the process of bringing out what we need freedom from , I feel we forget what we want the the freedom for? This movie forgets it too. The movie indulges in extreme stereotyping making anyone doing anything apart from the overarching theme of "Rani's New Life" is shown in an extremely negative picture. Why should the girl living in Paris ALWAYS be sleeping around and wearing slutty clothes? Why should the friend who gets married and has a kid be shown as the one who has lost it all. Why should the girl who did end up being a housewife be shown as the one in a kind of a prison where souls are choked?
Why should Simran from DDLJ to Shashi from English Vinglish to Rani from Queen find their solace and transformation only in their little four week vacation abroad? What about the other 99% who cannot go anywhere?
I would want a movie which addresses freedom in an Indian setting. And also , show exactly why the freedom attained made a difference. Sometimes you need to tell people that the whole idea of achieving freedom for women is more than just throwing a ring on the face of their fiancee, kiss european or supercool Raj in Europe or making your husband realize how important you are.
For once, can the existence of women and everything she does, not be about the men in their life?
