A royal hope, found wanting

The Last Lear
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta
Director: Rituparno Ghosh
Rating: **

Based on Utpal Dutt play, Aajker Shahjahan, Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear is an interesting story about an eccentric, ageing theatre actor in Kolkata. Harish Mishra or Harry (Bachchan) is persuaded to act in a film by maverick young director, Siddharth (Arjun Rampal) resulting in tragic consequences as two differing worlds and art forms collide.

Harry gave up the stage after getting cold feet before a performance of King Lear. Siddharth befriends him and gently coaxes him out of retirement and into a film role as a disfigured clown facing the demise of the circus and his livelihood. Harry and co-actor Shabnam (Zinta) forge a bond as he teaches her tricks of the trade.

Ghosh uses devices of film within a film and flashbacks to tell Harry’s story, starting on the night of the premiere of Siddharth’s film from which both Harry and Shabnam are absent. Shabnam has opted to visit a bedridden Harry where she is greeted by his partner Vandana and his nurse Ivy . Two parallel stories begin to unfold — of the ailing and fading actor and of three women stuck together on Diwali night, sharing their angst-ridden stories.

The scenes with the three women feel theatrical, with hardly any movement. Dutta’s Punjabi-accented Catholic nurse is hardest to digest.

In fact, most of the actors deliver their English dialogues with tutored unease, and each character appears more tortured and pensive than the next. The lines sound like sentences from a diary — with pronouns and prepositions being dropped arbitrarily. There isn’t one happy person in this film with the only moments of joy coming in the early interaction between Harry and Siddharth.

Bachchan’s wig does him no favours, yet he pulls off the eccentric, cantankerous purist holding on to the sound of fading applause with vigor. Harry is theatrical throughout except when in a drunken moment he drops his cultivated English accent and lets his Bengali intonation creep in. Bachchan seems to enjoy Shakespeare, but should have toned down the pitch a notch. Rampal delivers another strong performance as the Bengali arty filmy type.

The biggest let down within the story is the reason for Harry’s condition. It is unbelievable that any director would be so committed to excellence that he would risk the life of a senior citizen.

Added to the protracted pace, sub-plots (like the nurse’s story), and general sense of gloom, a potentially powerful story goes awry.