Celebrating Love in Poetry Just Like It Used to Be; Gustaakh Ishq gets lost in its own romantic world writes
– Rajeshwari Kalyanam
Gustaakh Ishq – Kuch Pehli Jaisa literally tells you that it is the story of how it used to be. The film is unhurried in its story telling, and is about unhurried limitless love, the emotion that at times needs no words but just few stones glances and those invaluable moments of togetherness, a feeling of betrayal, the longing of separation – the likes of how it used to be or the kind yesteryear romantic classics were made of. The film is set in 1998 when an old Urdu Printing Press is struggling to survive the change of the times. Trying to keep it alive and his father’s legacy is Nawabuddin Saifuddin Rehman – Pappan living in a big old-world house that has three months of electricity bill to be paid. On the other hand, his brother considers him a loser and advocates printing populist adult fiction that youngsters read or give the press away.
In a bid to save the press from closing the young man sets out to convince the elusive poet Aziz (Naseeruddin Shah) to print his poetry. The story moves from the idyllic purani Dilli to the laid-back charms of Punjabi town of Malerkotla where Aziz no longer is known as a poet, he repairs watches, and is not interested to print his poetry. The love story unfolds as Pappan is trying to impersonate a shayari enthusiast who is invested in becoming a shagird (student) to the great poet. And to do this he also tries to impress upon the poet’s daughter and his assistant Jumman (Sharin Hashmi). Somewhere along the way Pappan falls in love – with Aziz Baig’a daughter Minnu (Fatima Sana Sheikh) – and more so with the poetry and Urdu – the language of love as the shayar points out.
Hai Koi Jisse teri yaari naa ho
Aadmi itna bhi bazaari na ho
Mujhse bhi hokar woh aage badh chuka
Dost bachke ab theree baari na ho
The old havelis, the fading royalty but the rich and vibrant Urdu that reaches your ears like velvety honey, and the poetry in the Urdu verse that touches your heart and moves you to bits – does that remind you of days gone by? Gustaakh Ishq will take you back to vibe of films like Mere Mehboob and the muhabbat laden dialogues, shero shayari are truly delightful to watch.
Gustaakh Ishq is directed by Vibhu Puri that he co-wrote with Prasshant Jha and produced by fashion designer Manish Malhotra. Munush Nandan’s cinematography is what creates nostalgia and charming canvas for the world of poetry to unfold. He is aided by music is by Vishal Bharadwaj with lyrics by Gulzar – hence melodious and soulful even though they are not as memorable as their other songs.
The undoing of Gustaakh Ishq is that it gets lost in its own poetic world losing track of the story. The characters feel lost clueless of where to go next and some are left behind unjustly so. What it leaves behind it makes up for it with its tender tale of love – the kind you don’t see in today’s film making. The poetic endearing kind of endless love that is expressed through the beauty of Urdu language and its poetry.
