All that glitters is not gold

With all the staggering spectacle and glitter,the tale manages to stand distinctly at its surface,offering a very few glimpses at its soul and source.

A girl in red flaunts her freedom with the flying kites in the vast dry deserts , an other is drawn to the open gates of death ,her husband -a lone man in the dark is faced with a rebellion,a gorgeous mid aged courtesan hides all her pain in the illumination of music and dance while her abandoned child ,the reckless and revengeful Zafar forges hate with a fire – a blacksmith manufacturing swords – weapons that are used to manifest hate – killing lives ,wounding and is also a tool of defense .Zafar’s revenge is his defense against all the humiliation he has confronted.The lives of these souls are sewed into one with love and hate.

Kalank is in essence a travel from hatred to love that records the pain and perils in the minacious path.A sense of destruction begins it all -largely, self-destruction.Satya’s encounter with Roop commences as one of force and obligation.Satya who is dying destructs the ties of her happiness assuring her heart with the hope of leaving behind joy in her husband,Dev’s life.Roop, bound to responsibilities in her family nods yes to a marriage with Dev ,thereby destroying any further scope for her willful future .Roop’s intro song was splendid but not adequately vital since we get less establishment of Roop’s roots of affection towards her family in relation to her delightful dance of freedom. Zafar’s rage of vengeance forms the foundation of his primarily perfidious romance with Roop.

The root cause of the threatening fates troubling these romances rests in an earlier tainted one filled with regrets than relishes ,one that is spoken of heavily but with less heart.The progression of these passionate stories are set in a nation that is falling apart,ripped off ruthlessly by hate.

There are two nations,two communities and two emotions at war.The clash of the initial two meet a defeated unfortunate end, devoid of all peace while the latter musters up a streak of warmth despite the loss with its illumination of love’s eternity.

Zafar ,is the initial source of hate and its symbol forging the weapon of destruction in the fire- the flames that form the background of his first meet with Roop, taking the centre of the tryst- a fire of revenge.The fire then is found in the corner space when the redeeming Zafar meets his half brother.The fire he lights passes on as a dreadful rebellion ,spreading beyond his control , burning down Husnabad in the heat of hate.

Interestingly,Roop meets Zafar in the Dusshera day and the narration of it is interspersed with the retelling of Ram- Sita’s love,Ravaan’s abduction of Sita and his defeat.How paradoxically parallel is this epic in relation to the modestly fine drama? Roop is married to Dev – a bond not made of love like that amid Ram and Sita but of a forced choice.Ram confines Sita from crossing the circle in the forest to ensure her safety while the Chaudhary household restrains Roop from entering Hira Mandi to avoid any revisitation of a stealthy erstwhile romance.If the deer acts as bait luring Sita,Begum’s instantly affecting and enthralling music allures Roop.

Sita crosses her confines and falls a prey to the lust of Raavan who takes her captive to his kingdom.Roop steps beyond the restrictions and into Hira Mandi ,falling a prey to love .She falls in love with the captor and steps willingly into his world.She intimidates the desirer of ruin with her plentiful and helpless love.The captor is no villain but only the vile in him is, the source of which is not significantly soulful ,thus helping merely in the formation of superficial account.

The hate within him that tarnishes the love flees but the one that he spreads chases him .Here,Kalank registers how the fire of destruction is sourced from an individual’s angst.This aspect is relatively prominent than the drama’s take on the misery of mistakes. Zafar’s manipulations,motivated by his intent to destroy a father who would grant him no regard and legitimacy fuels a rebellion but is that single spark of ignition adequate to enrage an entire community is a reasonable doubt.The reasons for the riots extend beyond that of Zafar – the causes the film doesn’t bother to delve into.The portrayal of a particular community to be perpetrators of hate is a dangerous and unhealthy depiction.

Is the tragic amour of Roop and Zafar a parallel to the painful Partition of India is a question that enables gathering interesting interpretations.I couldn’t stop drawing connects ,closer to the climax ,between Zafar – the abandoned child and the forsaken Kashmir which suffered (and continues to suffer) the brutal brunt of Partition.Did India reach out to Zafar holding on to a Dev? *Deep breath*

Zafar is torn amidst the place of his birth and growth – amidst love and hate.

What could he do when he confronted his Brutus,the one he cultivated? Zafar did breed hate and met his ruin(Well,Kashmir is a regrettable ,massive and irreversible collateral damage)

Let me not get too entangled in political and mythical parallels for they don’t make sense beyond a point ( alike the film!)

The music that captivates Roop allures us the same way and its efficient usage in certain points of the narration is an enhancer- infact,the only one.

Besides all these that Kalank presents ,what it doesn’t is a sense of a profound connect despite the scope offered by the extent of its time and scale.The spectacular expanse doesn’t shield the substantial emptiness.Is an extensive bull fight essential to elevate the intrepidity and insensitivity of Zafar? Anyways, I would like to believe he was fighting his spirit animal.The closure following the fate of the romances is a touch of collateral beauty preserving the eternity of love.

Kalank- the lengthy and sightly elucidation of the power of love and perils of hate can in all means be compared to its Dev.

Dev looks sophisticated , striking but is staright faced,rigid and hence lacks life.

You can see him and be interested,but not know him with an intimacy that might intrigue you.He is indeed a nice man but as Roop remarks , being nice isn’t enough.

Kalank – would neither take you to its depths nor abandon you in the periphery!

Afterall,All that glitters is not gold!