Coming straight to point, the initial 15 minutes of the film (before the foreign locales take over) are too weird to handle (at first), shattering all the big expectations raised from the talented team. And later as the two lead characters meet and spend their 'individual good time' in the breathtaking locations of Corsica, it generates the feeling of 'deja-vu' reminding you of many similar films of the past and few foreign references too offering nothing new as content unfortunately. In fact it's a kind of silent confusion, desperately waiting for something unique to happen on screen that starts teasing the viewers by the end of its first 50 minutes (as I strongly felt), and the film solely gets saved by the adorable chemistry between Ranbir and Deepika alone and nothing beyond in this specific time period putting it bluntly.
However the explosion happens just before the intermission and then the director we know of gets back in form, sitting on the driving seat, playing some highly appreciable mind-games with his viewers we seldom get to seen in our Hindi cinema. In exact terms, TAMASHA is one of those rarest of rare films wherein we have the second half excelling and impressing the viewers many times better than the first in an amazing manner. And it's these final 80 minutes of the film only that force you to re-connect with those initial abstract moments and admit that it was completely wrong to conceive TAMASHA as the same run of the mill stuff made by the visionary director, since the thinking man did have something extraordinary in mind to present in his latest project.
Having said that, yes the film doesn't rise up to the level of his previous ventures with the major culprit remaining the lackluster first half and the less melodious music in comparison to the earlier hit soundtracks coming from the same team. But then, TAMASHA grows on you as it progresses or rather ends having a brilliant division of sections with their own indicative titles and interesting references of books such as Asterix & Catch 22. The visualization of its characters giving them different looks with the changes in time periods supports its basic subject superbly. And the songs turn out to be more enjoyable or meaningful after watching the film (with deep, thought provoking lyrics) that ironically has been a lucky case with many of A. R. Rahman's famous scores in the past too like HIGHWAY or RANG DE BASANTI. Love for Punjabi music and its culture is yet again there in Imitiaz's sixth film. Plus the well written quotable dialogues, background score as well as cinematography plays a major role in the overall impact of the theme (as always) with some mind blowing camera angles tried even in the crucial emotional scenes working wonderfully.
In the acting department, the remarkable performances from two of the most talented actors of the present times blow you off completely with Ranbir delivering a career-best act making a magnificent comeback post his recent over-famous duds. And the boy proudly proves his 'acting genes' representing the two greatest actors of Hindi Cinema, Prithiviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor with a big, loud roar unarguably. Deepikaon the other hand provides an effortless praiseworthy support to Ranbir with all her heartfelt love and affection, in spite of getting much lesser space on screen contributing sportingly. As a matter of fact, what I personally felt while watching the film was that these two actors are now way beyond the vision or capabilities of most of our present filmmakers to be honest and Imtiaz Ali has taken a quantum leap getting far ahead of any of the current Hindi 'mainstream' directors without any slightest of doubt (in terms of his extremely difficult choice of concepts). Moreover, where the supporting cast performs just fine, it's the noticeable casting of the child artist and the comic performance of Vivek Mushran as Ranbir's boss that does bring back the nostalgia of those good old days of "ILU ILU" in Vivek's debut film SAUDAGAR (1991) directed by Subhash Ghai.
Anyhow, the bitter truth remains that despite all the above mentioned remarkable merits of this delightful film, TAMASHA might not find many takers in the existing commercial world, since it forces you to stop for a while and think, that obviously many would not be interested in, being busy in the so called bigger races of acquiring more money & wealth unconsciously. Also this is not a film for the viewers who are just expecting another enjoyable, entertaining, rom-com drama expressing the same clichéd emotions to be cherished with some upbeat music and dance, talking and giggling in the dark having a good time.
Therefore many might not like it . as many might not be willing to re-think about their decisions taken, unnecessarily adding to their existing personal problems creating more doubts ..! But here one thing I can assure that every single person who would be able to reach and grasp its sincere 'life changing' message of 'Finding the REAL YOU', he or she is sure going to be benefited by this precious realization sooner or later in life, making it more beautiful and worth living in the remaining years.
However the explosion happens just before the intermission and then the director we know of gets back in form, sitting on the driving seat, playing some highly appreciable mind-games with his viewers we seldom get to seen in our Hindi cinema. In exact terms, TAMASHA is one of those rarest of rare films wherein we have the second half excelling and impressing the viewers many times better than the first in an amazing manner. And it's these final 80 minutes of the film only that force you to re-connect with those initial abstract moments and admit that it was completely wrong to conceive TAMASHA as the same run of the mill stuff made by the visionary director, since the thinking man did have something extraordinary in mind to present in his latest project.
Having said that, yes the film doesn't rise up to the level of his previous ventures with the major culprit remaining the lackluster first half and the less melodious music in comparison to the earlier hit soundtracks coming from the same team. But then, TAMASHA grows on you as it progresses or rather ends having a brilliant division of sections with their own indicative titles and interesting references of books such as Asterix & Catch 22. The visualization of its characters giving them different looks with the changes in time periods supports its basic subject superbly. And the songs turn out to be more enjoyable or meaningful after watching the film (with deep, thought provoking lyrics) that ironically has been a lucky case with many of A. R. Rahman's famous scores in the past too like HIGHWAY or RANG DE BASANTI. Love for Punjabi music and its culture is yet again there in Imitiaz's sixth film. Plus the well written quotable dialogues, background score as well as cinematography plays a major role in the overall impact of the theme (as always) with some mind blowing camera angles tried even in the crucial emotional scenes working wonderfully.
In the acting department, the remarkable performances from two of the most talented actors of the present times blow you off completely with Ranbir delivering a career-best act making a magnificent comeback post his recent over-famous duds. And the boy proudly proves his 'acting genes' representing the two greatest actors of Hindi Cinema, Prithiviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor with a big, loud roar unarguably. Deepikaon the other hand provides an effortless praiseworthy support to Ranbir with all her heartfelt love and affection, in spite of getting much lesser space on screen contributing sportingly. As a matter of fact, what I personally felt while watching the film was that these two actors are now way beyond the vision or capabilities of most of our present filmmakers to be honest and Imtiaz Ali has taken a quantum leap getting far ahead of any of the current Hindi 'mainstream' directors without any slightest of doubt (in terms of his extremely difficult choice of concepts). Moreover, where the supporting cast performs just fine, it's the noticeable casting of the child artist and the comic performance of Vivek Mushran as Ranbir's boss that does bring back the nostalgia of those good old days of "ILU ILU" in Vivek's debut film SAUDAGAR (1991) directed by Subhash Ghai.
Anyhow, the bitter truth remains that despite all the above mentioned remarkable merits of this delightful film, TAMASHA might not find many takers in the existing commercial world, since it forces you to stop for a while and think, that obviously many would not be interested in, being busy in the so called bigger races of acquiring more money & wealth unconsciously. Also this is not a film for the viewers who are just expecting another enjoyable, entertaining, rom-com drama expressing the same clichéd emotions to be cherished with some upbeat music and dance, talking and giggling in the dark having a good time.
Therefore many might not like it . as many might not be willing to re-think about their decisions taken, unnecessarily adding to their existing personal problems creating more doubts ..! But here one thing I can assure that every single person who would be able to reach and grasp its sincere 'life changing' message of 'Finding the REAL YOU', he or she is sure going to be benefited by this precious realization sooner or later in life, making it more beautiful and worth living in the remaining years.