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| Saturday, July 12, 2003 |
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AFTER Fiza, pen-patriarch Khalid Mohamed wields the baton yet again for Tehzeeb, a mother-daughter conflict-cum-confrontation drama starring Shabana Azmi and Urmila Matondkar. Critic-turned-film director Khalid Mohamed does it again. The Urmila Matondkar-Shabana Azmi-starrer Tehzeeb is his second directorial venture. Reportedly said to be inspired from Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s movie Autumn Sonata, the film hinges on a mother-daughter relationship. It also stars Arjun Rampal, Diya Mirza, Diana Hayden and Namrata Shirodkar. A chronic movie buff and critic, Khalid went on the other side of the firing line when he turned director with Fiza. With Karisma Kapoor playing the protagonist, the film was a sensitive tale of communal hostility, terrorism and vulnerability. Actors Hrithik Roshan and Jaya Bachchan were the other players in this tale of hope and despair. Mohamed has in the past
also written scripts for films Sardari Begum and Mammo. |
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Two decades ago, Urmila Matondkar, then a child artiste, had played daughter to Shabana Azmi in Shekhar Kapur’s Masoom. This time they share the same screen equation in Mohamed’s Tehzeeb. While Urmila plays the title role of Tehzeeb, Azmi plays Rukshana, a famous playback singer. Urmila, through the growing years, shares a love-hate relationship with her high profile and glamorous mother, as there had been sensational gossip written about her and the mystery surrounding the death of her father. He was known to have been allegedly killed by a bullet and Rukshana (Azmi) had been tried in court for the murder but had not been proved guilty. Urmila, as a young woman, marries a novelist, played by Arjun Rampal, against Azmi’s wishes and resides at a hill station. Meanwhile, a middle-aged Azmi, to survive with changing trends, resorts to singing disco-remixes, despite ghazals being her forte. A lonely Azmi decides to visit her daughter with whom she has been estranged for five years, in a reconciliatory bid. Urmila, initially courteous, finds the pent-up hostility resurfacing and a volatile situation builds up. She confronts her mother about her father’s death and wants to know nothing but the truth. Actress Diya Mirza plays Nazneen, Matondkar’s younger sister, who has always pined for her mother’s love, who has remained preoccupied with her career. Says Mirza, "I am playing a 20-year-old girl with a mind of a 6-year one." Miss World-cum-actress Diana Hayden plays the cameo of a publishing editor, a New York inhabitant, who copes with the conflicts and challenges of life in Mumbai. Other characters in the plot include a lusty film producer, a rival playback singer and a nasty journalist who wants to unearth the past scandal. Other highlights Santosh Sivan’s ace cinematography, Javed Akhtar’s lyrical expressions, A.R. Rahman’s score and set designs by Sarmishta Roy are other aesthetic inputs in this modern tale of need-based relationships and fragile family bonds. Matondkar, expressing admiration for senior co-star Shabana Azmi, says, "I have observed the craftsmanship behind Shabanaji’s performance... I want to test my outer limit as an actress in front of a hurricane called Shabana Azmi." She vouches, "This is
a film which highlights natural nuances, a film you will watch with a
smile and leave with a tear." LMN |
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