Languishing in Lunacy
An analysis of Laila Majnu (movie by Imitiaz Ali)
Note: This post has spoilers. Don’t read it if you want to watch the movie. It is more palatable to a reader who has already watched the movie.
There are two big ideas about destiny. One which says that we can choose our path and another that says that it is already written and we are mere pawns who are here just to act it out.
Of course no one can claim that they have written their entire story. Several factors decide where we walk and what we do. But at every juncture we do have a choice.
The adaptation of the Laila Majnu story by Imitiaz Ali believes in the latter ideology, i.e. that fate is already written and we have no control over destiny. I disagree with this completely and like to substantiate this view.
Summary of the Movie
The movie is a retelling of Laila Majnu legend. It is story of Laila, a middle class woman who falls in love with a rich brat called Qais Bhat. Their families have a land dispute and dislike each other.
In spite of this, the two continue their affair till they are caught red handed.
Qais Bhat puts up a fight and asks his father to make peace with Laila’s father to ensure that he ends up with Laila. A political worker close to Laila’s father manipulates him regarding his supposed ‘honour’ and offers to marry his sought-after daughter.
Laila gets married to the manipulative political worker after some drama and Qais goes into depression. He is taken care of by his friends as he descends into complete lunacy. The love story never reaches a happy ending. Laila dies and Qais goes into complete lunacy.
Lack of Purpose
It is said that human life is absurd and it has no meaning. But we can find some meaning or purpose in our existence. It can be dedicated to art, money or social service, pursuit of power or pure pleasure. One can comment and debate about the choice people make in this regard. It could be good, bad or ugly.
But what is more dangerous is a scenario where people have no purpose and try to fill this void with a self-destructive form of carelessness or worse still — an impossible love story.
This is what happens with the two lead characters of this movie Laila and Qais Bhat. Laila was merely a beauty who enjoyed the pursuit of literally every guy in her city. She had no goals of her own or any sense of direction in life.
The stalking scenes which fill the movie are kinda disturbing as it could encourage guys to do the same in real life. These scenes also highlight the extent of unemployment in Kashmir.
Qais Bhat too is a vagrant. However the only difference between him and other pursuers of Laila is his wealth. He is a rich spoilt brat with a bunch of friends surrounding him.
Without any struggle or purpose, he makes Laila and his ostensible love for her the sole aim of his life. He is absolutely unable to sit with himself in solitude. His yearning for Laila becomes the sole purpose of his life.
This point is further supported by his absurd dream of going to the ‘other side of the mountain’ and living his life in a hut with Laila. That would not only be tough life but also an exhausting venture. It’s probably a good picnic idea though.
Eventually, Qais languishes in this stupid desire to be with an imaginary Laila as he dives deeper into craziness.
I am not writing some self help rant here. But this is my analysis of the two key characters.
The Downside of Honour
The other interesting character of this movie is Masood, Laila’s father. He is apparently a ‘respectable’ man. However, he does absolutely destructive things to protect his honour and marries off his daughter to a deceptive political worker to ‘protect’ his honour.
I am not saying that one should not be an decent person. Honour is important. But it is not more important that what is right. Even if he had a feud with Qais’s father, he could have understood the needs of his daughter and made a respectable compromise.
But his adamant posture on labelling his adversary a ‘thief’ is absolutely crazy in a way. In stark contrast Qais’ father is a far better parent. He sets aside his ego and opinions to ensure that his son marries the love of his life.
Do we need to suffer behind closed doors to protect honour in the eyes of others, who probably don’t give more than two fucks about anyone other than themselves (or close family members)? Absolutely no.
Worth Your Time?
Though this is not a movie review, you would still want to know if Laila Majnu is a movie worth watching. Personally, I feel that the last 40 minutes of the movie has too many loopholes in the plot.
But it is compensated by great acting by the male lead. If you can appreciate the crazy nonsense that is subtely promoted by the movie and understand such things do happen in society, it is definitely worth your time.
The movie has good cinematography, dialogues and the beautiful visuals of Kashmir that you can appreciate. Beyond that, I would say that the movie doesn’t have much to offer.