#TalvarThisFriday- The Sword of Honour?

A blog-makeover( which, by the way is still in progress), an amazing chocolate brownie sundae, some heart to heart conversations and the movie Talvar pretty much summed the last weekend for me. It was a time well spent and a much needed relaxed weekend after a really long time. We underestimate the small pleasures of life, all the time. While travel is something that my heart is set on for a while now, it was a much needed break from the hustle bustle of airports, railway stations and bus stops. I was looking forward to spending three days in my pjs when the opportunity to attend a media preview screening of the movie Talvar presented itself. Who says no to an offer like that? 

Zig-zagging through the narrow lanes of Old Delhi, I reached Delite Cinema just in time for the movie to begin. Though I thought this was quite an unusual location for a movie preview, some friends enlightened me that it’s a usual practice since there are many big media houses in the vicinity. Soon, I settled down, admiring the old world charm of the place. I was transported to another time, when we bunked extra classes for movies. The innocence of those days is long gone now. The lights went out and contemplating in the darkness ,my heart wandered to little Arushi, who didn’t live long enough to lose her innocence. 

The movie began and I could not help trying to remember my own whereabouts during the time when the events depicted on the screen were happening for real. The  only thing that came back to me was Aarushi Talvar murder case highjacking every single minute of TV time. Everyone discussed it and had an opinion on it. It was just plain sad how a young girl of fourteen, who might still have been believing in fairytales was murdered with such brutality. With the movie Talvar, I re-lived every news bulletin, every newspaper article and every piece of information or gossip that was doing rounds through the investigations. I had always been curious on how the investigations could lead to two extremely opposite conclusions and I finally got my answers.

The movie is very well made, depicting facts as well as myths and giving the viewer the freedom of choice to go with whichever version of the reality they connect to. I, as an individual see it s a tribute to Aarushi and hope that she found peace, where ever she is. Talvar is a hard-hitting piece of art, which makes the viewer think from various angles. Aarushi Talvar murder case was all over and I doubt anyone hardly missed the proceedings. That makes it very difficult to make a movie with a story that has already been published, again and again, maybe with slightly different perspectives each time. But, this difficult task has been done very effectively, and the movie engages the audience even with a story they already know. Irrfan Khan, is perfect, as always. There are moments which make it all seem true, like conversations one would have in real life and I think that make it even better. What more than the audience want if we have a hard-hitting actor like Irrfan cracking us up at regular intervals, in spite of the crime theme. It is moments like these that make the movie stand apart. 

I would totally recommend #TalvarThisFriday. Go watch, think. The movie shows the truth of the kind of systems we have in place and how they can affect a lives. There is really zero control over truth, lies and everything else that lies in between. Go, figure out the version you want to believe. I came back with mine, and it is a dark one. I can’t stop thinking about Talvar family and how everything changed overnight for them. My heart goes out to little Aarushi, and to Hemraj who had to suffer, for no fault of theirs. I hope both of them found peace. 

Don’t wait for the reviews, take my recommendation and book the tickets. You know I won’t be lying when I recommend a movie which does not have SRK in it.