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The foreigner within

Sharmila Taliculam

Rajshri Nair and Nagesh Kukunoor in Hyderabad Blues. Click for bigger pic!

I followed traditions blindly when I lived here, but now I question them too," Varun, the protagonist of Hyderabad Blues, tells a friend who is going through an arranged marriage.

That is the kernel of the conflict that Hyderabad Blues addresses -- the angst of one who has rendered himself a foreigner.

Of course, the film walks a line a little south of philosophy; having taken on itself the mantle of a romantic comedy. And though it winds down the same road as most such stories do, the protagonists and the vistas offered are decidedly different.

There is this youth, the aforenamed Varun, who comes home to Hyderabad from America after 12 years. He finds himself facing a culture shock in reverse -- via an inability to understand any more what he had taken for granted earlier. The homeland was as foreign to him as his country of adoption. The film was first shown at the Mumbai Film Festival. To rave reviews.

Traditions and practices begin to grate on him. He begins arguing about everything he once accepted blindly. He meets a lady doctor who snubs him every time. So he falls in love and woos her. But, like most Americans, he wants to know her better before committing himself.

The cast of Hyderabad Blues. Click for bigger pic!

This, of course, goes against the local grain, and there are a lot of problems before they finally decide to take the plunge. The film ends without resolving where they are to live; for the lady hates anything remotely American, except, perhaps this remote almost-American.

Touted as the find of the MFF, Hyderabad Blues is a first time effort by a 28-year-old chemical engineer, Nagesh Kukunoor. And if you harbour a doubt that maybe the film addresses issues that plague the maker too, that maybe he too wonders where he fits in and where he should be, you might well be right.

Shot in 17 days with a tiny budget of Rs 2 million, Kukunoor still has the originality to make a film that isn't the usual song-dance numbers to be entertaining. To cut cost, and maybe inadvertently enhancing the autobiographical element, Kukunoor himself plays Varun.

The casting is good, especially that of Vikram Inamdar, who plays Varun's friend. A chauvinist, he stands for all that is reactionary in the film in particular and India in general. His battles with Varun provide for good dialogue.

Vikram says, "Just because you lived in America for 12 years, you don't stop being an Indian."

Varun replies, "Yeah, but America has been good to me and I can't forget that. I have become an American now." That's where what seemed essentially a conflict of cultures also touches upon the issues of loyalty.

Click for bigger pic!

There are various such scenes, which endear you of the boy, especially when you see how he hard he tries to reunderstand and accept the ways of his family again.

The dialogues are mostly in English, with some Telugu thrown in for authenticity. But on the whole the film is funny and entertaining, avoiding any direct condemnation of Indian traditions or beliefs. Varun even seems to accept most of them, albeit with reservations. He is particularly miffed when he is told that he should get married since he is the most eligible bachelor and commands the highest price in Hyderabad.

The comparison between his friend and himself gets to him. As does the praise when he breaks up with his girl. And when he kisses his girlfriend, the American in him is quite mystified why she gets angry.

The change in his attitudes is also highlighted well. From the young man who only thinks of how much he can earn in dollars to the adult considering other issues of deeper significance, the shift is essentially one of maturity. From the boy who cared little about privacy to the man who is annoyed when the temple priest asks how much he earns every month...

The film is thoughtful and lighthearted at the same time. Okay, it isn't up to international standards, but Kukunoor looks good enough to graduate to that level. For a first time effort, though, it's very good.

As Kukunoor says, "This film is not a deep deliberation as to which place is better, but simply a personal search for home."