Jottings - Slice of life - 276 ( The disease of envy and its portrayal in “A star is born” and “Abhimaan”)
It is not for nothing that envy is listed among the Seven deadly sins. It is a silent killer. It may not visibly intrusive and glaring like some of the other sins, but the impact envy can have on a flowering relationship is similar to a cancerous growth that eats from the inside, slowly and deliberately and with suppurating inner pain. Some amount of envy is inevitable in any relationship, but when the Rubicon of moderation is crossed, and one ventures into that torrid zone filled with inferiority complexes, self flagellatory nightmares , emotional sadism and truckloads of self-pity ; then the end is near; not merely of the relationship; but the integrity of the personality itself. Literature, movies, and drama have captured this psychotic phenomenon of relentless envy in innumerable works. It makes for a great plot and builds enough cathartic and aesthetic tension to keep the beholder riveted to the book or screen. The trajectory of such stories often has a tragic ending casting doubt veracity of fame and adulation in the arts, or in few cases, the artist offers a different perspective of understanding and reconciliation. Either way, there is self-made pain and its panacea.
“A star is born" a classic tale of envy, has been remade four times over a century of Hollywood cinema. In 1937, it was Janet Mayor and Fredric March - a subdued black and white affair with a bewitching performance by Janet; in 1954 it was Judy Garland ( one of the best musical portrayals) and the debonair James Mason singing their way into envy; in 1976, the story was reprised with the ultimate diva of music Barbara Streisand at the height of her glory with the bearded, lanky Kris Kristofferson playing a fading second fiddle; and in 2018 the mercurial, eccentric and supremely talented Lady Gaga donning the character of Ally, the singer from a shady night club catapulting to singing fame in a matter of few frames, and reducing the alcoholic and self-tormented husband Jackson Maine ( played to perfection by Bradley Cooper), to physical and psychological shambles. In all four adaptations, the Hero dies, commits suicide, not able to come to grips with the rise of his beau who walks up the ladder of success using the Hero’s shoulders as a prop. The sheer abundance of talent propels the ladies into an orbit of their own. All that was needed was a launching pad, a pedestal to stand on — nothing else. Our love stuck heroes provide that pedestal driven by a genuine appreciation of their lover’s talent ; but quickly realize that the spark they helped kindle has transformed into something unexpected, something really big, a blazing fire whose artistic intensity subsumes everything in its wake, including the hero’s own artistic prowess, sensitivity, and status . In that vulnerable moment of insecurity, envy surreptitiously creeps into one's bosom, and before long, it stains and corrupts the purity and beauty of the relationship, that was responsible for bringing the talent to the forefront.
Lady Gaga, or Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, couldn’t have aspired for a better break than the latest remake of “A star is born”. The world knows Gaga as a performer, as a singer with wide repertoire of vocals, as a songwriter who could , when she wants to, write songs that touch the deepest chords in modern man, as a lady whose indefatigable performances on stage with the most incredible costumes and masks could throw thousands into state of delirium; and above all, as a young girl who rose from the streets of New York around 2008 to establish herself as a prima donna in the one of the most competitive and toughest spaces in art — the world of American commercial music. In a way, Gaga has always led a double life. Her exterior persona, which all of us know, is so larger than life with so much of hype and facade; that we have never seen the lady behind the smoke and lights. That she can act, and act with the great maturity and poise is indeed a revelation. As Ally, she quickly takes control of the movie, leaving Bradley Cooper playing second fiddle and made tp look little weak and average. Gaga's performance reminds me of Jennifer Lopez’s back in 1996. J. Lo ’s first appeared as an actress in“Selena” - a biopic that portrayed the tragic life of the Spanish singer by the same name. Her naive innocent face with an astounding voice and onstage persona fitted the role well, and the film proved to be a great launching pad for Jennifer Lopez’s incredibly successful career in Hollywood. Today, after two decades, Ms. Lopez continues to straddle the world of movies and music with equal ease; and I see Lady Gaga in that same mold and treading more or less the same path. Gaga, like Lopez, is a born entertainer with no inhibitions about herself and the world. “A star is born” has given her the perfect platform to experiment and explore her artistic limits. What struck me with great force is the ease of Lady Gaga in front of the camera. With a seasoned and talented co-actor in Bradley Cooper, it's not easy to stand out in the frame. But everyone who watched the movie would come out crediting Gaga for her sensitive portrayal of a role played by other great actresses in the past. It is difficult to infuse a new interpretation of a character that is already part of American artistic conscience. Not only does it require tremendous courage to attempt, but far greater audacity to pull it off. It is the singer Lady Gaga who ultimately walked away with the Academy award; but if her acting talent in this film is anything to go by, it is only a matter of time before she holds the golden statue for an actor in her hands.
Having written about “ A star is born” and the performances of lead artists in the previous paragraphs; I must confess that my personal favorite among all adaptations of the artistic envy and its consequences on screen has to be Hrishikesh Mukherjee's unforgettable 1973 masterpiece “Abhimaan” featuring two wonderful actors at the cusp of their careers. The storyline is similar. A playback singer at the height of commercial success finds a young, soft-spoken village belle with the voice of a nightingale. He marries, brings her to the city, playfully nudges her to pursue singing as a career, not knowing that what he has precipitated would return to overshadow his own towering success. The young bride Uma ( beautifully etched by Java Bhaduri in her finest performances ever) reluctantly follows her Husbands advice, and soon finds herself much more in demand than her mentor. Amitabh Bachan, playing the role of the mentoring hubby (Subir) begins to feel the pressure of envy lurking at doors of their relationships. The slow development of the psychological rot, and its gradual infiltration into daily life, affecting every aspect of a loving relationship is explored with great depth and sensitivity in the masterful hands of Hrishida. The audience deeply sympathizes with both the characters. We lament with Uma while she anguishes over her alienation from her beloved, and we stoically empathize with Subir as tries his best to accommodate Uma’s success into her own orbit. We feel the pain when Subir’s initial enthusiasm and encouragement turns sour, condescending and sarcastic, and the tremendous strain in places on the young wife for no fault of hers. The body language of the hero exudes sheer aggression without the actual physicality of violence. The performance of Amitabh as Subir is definitely a high water mark in his illustrious career. And so is Jaya’s as Uma, in her subdued yet strong role as a wife who decides to repudiate her talent for marital stability.
The beauty of “Abhimaan” is in the positive ending of the story. Envy is not an insoluble problem. It is a psychological imbalance, no doubt, but nothing that cannot be understood in perspective and set right. The descent into drugs and alcohol to forget the problem is hardly a solution. It may provide temporary relief by numbing the pain; but when the soporific stupor fades away, the pain returns with doubled force. In all four adaptations of “A star is born”, the hero commits suicide. He briefly returns to sanity towards the end of the story, only to be pushed over the precipice over a trivial incident or conversation about his wife. In “Abhimaan”, however, When Uma is on the verge of collapsing into a state of irrevocable depression Subir is made to understand, realize the fallacy of his position and unethical demands. He comes face to face with his inner demons and wakes up with the self-realization that his madness and misdemeanor is about to consume a beautiful life for reasons utterly selfish and misplaced. Elders step in, to counsel and bring the wayward artist back to track, and in the climax of the movie, both the husband and wife together sing the song of their life with harmony and coordination that only can come after the arduous trial of self-discovery in a relationship. They sing effortlessly, as one soul in two bodies, and yet retain their individuality. That is the hallmark of a healthy relationship - artistic or otherwise. The music of SD Burman captured every nuance of Hrishida’s vision, and in the history of Indian cinema, Abhimaan would rate as one of those very few films that blended meaningful music with deep emotional narrative.
God bless…
yours in mortality,
Bala
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