Master filmmaker and critic, Jean-Luc Godard once said, “I pity the French Cinema because it has no money. I pity the American Cinema because it has no ideas.” It holds true for the state of these cinemas during the French New Wave, but both of Godard’s notions apply on the Pakistani ‘new wave’, especially in the context of the film Tamanna. After all, the quality of filmmaking tells you why, sometimes, even the combination of money and matter can’t salvage a movie from turning into a total disaster.
Directed by British filmmaker, Steven Moore, the film is based on Anthony Shaffer’s play titled Sleuth. The play has previously been adapted into two different films; the first was released in 1972 with Michael Caine and Lawrence Olivier in lead roles and the second, in 2007 with Michael Caine and Jude Law. Both films were appreciated for top-class performances and for those who had not read the play, they were mind-boggling suspense thrillers.
But none of this can be seen in Tamanna and this is primarily because of needless additions in the script that serve no purpose and only make an engaging story seem like a juvenile Tom and Jerry episode. In terms of entertainment value, it would be an insult to compare the film to the great cartoon series, but as far as redundancy is concerned, it’s pretty much the same.
The film revolves around Rizwan Ahmed (Omair Rana), a struggling actor who comes to meet a veteran director Mian Tariq Ali (Salman Shahid). Rizwan is in love with Ali’s wife and comes to his house to convince him to divorce her. Instead of negotiating with Rizwan, Ali chooses to play a game, something he likes to do a lot as a storyteller. The ‘game’ starts with Ali convincing Rizwan to attempt a burglary in his house and what follows is a series of prolonged mind games that the two play with each other.
The film’s climax doesn’t strike you the way it should and that is precisely because it mainly relies on, for the sake of not revealing a spoiler, a certain ‘stylistic’ element of the film. Unfortunately, this is not properly executed in Tamanna and makes the plot lose its lustre.
The additions, on the other hand, needlessly extend a basic and compelling story, so much so that you end up questioning yourself, “Wait. What did I just see?” The film offers so many sub plots that it becomes challenging to figure out what the real plot is. The ‘Support Pakistani cinema’ brigade shouldn’t compare the mind games in Tamanna with any of the Christopher Nolan classics because in this film, they are literally purposeless.
Apart from the sub plots, brace yourselves for a series of epilogues, which make you realise the importance of a good resolution and may compel you to shout out, like an audience member did in the movie theatre, “Ab yeh kia aglay part ka trailer chal raha hai?”
The performers pick up pace in the middle of the film, but that lasts till the incoherent editing of the film interjects, which happens quite often. The shift to random beauty shots of a pool table or some other prop take away from some of the decent one-liners in the film. But the one-liners were the silver lining of a thoroughly inconsistent script that made both Rana and Shahid (a true performer) seem like actors who were forced to participate in a high school play. Mehreen Raheel, who plays Ali’s wife Mehreen, offered nothing that she doesn’t do on the small screen.
To sum it up, Tamanna is analogous with a pretentious student project and all the beauty shots and songs by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Ali Azmat were mere garnish on an otherwise sour curry. Upcoming filmmakers should watch the film only to note down the mistakes they shouldn’t commit on the way to revitalising the Pakistani film industry.
Verdict: Tamanna is an ideal example of how poor writing can make an adaptation lacklustre. None of the stylistic and thematic elements gelled together to offer a wholesome cinematic experience.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2014.
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