Opinion Who Killed Susanna?

Based on Ruskin Bond’s short story,’Susanna’s Seven Husbands’,Bhardwaj’s rendition attempts to get inside the mind and heart of a woman who is forever searching for love. Bhardwaj’s film just manages to scratch the surface of Susanna’s heart. What could have been a riveting portrait of a woman’s journey of love and redemption ends up becoming an episodic indulgence. The film glosses over the betrayals that Susanna encounters as she meets the six men who she ends up marrying. It becomes a game of musical husbands,with Susanna going about her business in a linear pattern: she meets the husband,she kills him,she meets another one. Rinse. Repeat.

It must have been a tough task for Bhardwaj to justify all seven relationships and murders in the duration of the film. Seven is a big number. Before watching the film,I attributed a symbolic value to seven. I thought of the relevance of the title— maybe Vishal is playing on the saat phere/saat vachan angle or maybe the seven in the title denotes the seven deadly sins (the promos of Naseeruddin Shah with the mushroom had me convinced he is representing gluttony.) Ah well. Needless to say I was trying too hard to find a meaning.

So then I wondered why did it need to be seven? Four is a good number. Or maybe five. That would have given us ample time to feel for the relationships. Maybe then I would have really felt something for Susanna. Too much focus on seven was the film’s undoing. I can’t help the count. In my justification even Vishal seems to be enamoured by seven since in the interval he put out a reminder: “four more to go.” That’s too much number crunching for a movie that is essentially a woman’s journey for love.

That brings me back to the woman. Priyanka Chopra plays Susanna. On paper,it is a brave attempt by a mainstream female star like Priyanka to agree to play Susanna. She is made to age in the film. In a Hindi film whenever a heroine agrees to play anything over 30 she is eligible for a bravery certificate. In Priyanka’s case,she deserves a medal. Vishal does not let his leading lady age beautifully. Priyanka’s make up in the film is bad. Simple logic: if you can see the make up it is bad make up. I’m sure Vishal wanted it this way. He wants his Susanna’s face to show the disappointments that love has brought with it. As Susanna ages,she disintegrates physically with shriveled skin. Exquisite thinking this,but once again on screen,the translation leaves much to be desired.

Priyanka tries hard to play Susanna but despite all her efforts,it still feels like she’s playing a part. To put it crudely,she could not show us the machinery of Susanna. It’s an incomplete portrayal. There’s a list of questions about Susanna that Priyanka’s performance could not answer: what made her tick,what was she looking for,why wasn’t she satisfied,what did she want in a man,why did she kill all the men,why didn’t she just leave them,what was driving her?

This is a role way beyond Priyanka’s limited life experience. Susanna’s role requires a face that has lived a life. Tabu,maybe? Remember ‘Maqbool’? Now that was flesh,blood and tears. Towards the end when she’s on her chosen path,Priyanka seemed to be channeling Rekha. So I wondered why didn’t Vishal cast different actresses for Susanna’s role? It could have been a young Susanna,a middle aged Susanna and then the older Susanna. Priyanka,Tabu and Rekha maybe. That would be something.

I know it isn’t fair to burden a movie with our idea of the movie. Blame it on Vishal who has spoilt us with some fine cinematic experiences. This time,he focused on the idea. But I wanted a film. I missed that.