Fantasies in Dil Se -Pooja Gupta
In Dil Se, I noticed that there were a lot more fantasy song sequences that went outside the diegesis of the film in comparison to the other movies we have watched so far this year. We talked a bit in class today about how Amar is a naive character who is ignorant about the struggles around him. He is the embodiment of what people consider “an Indian man”, but he is simply living in a world of smoke and mirrors. The world outside of Delhi is much darker; the more he trudges through, the more trouble he gets himself into. Amar lived in a world of fantasy. Because he grew up in the city, he can’t imagine the harsh reality just outside its borders. The song sequences could be considered his fantasies and are proof of how misguided he is of reality. He truly believes that he can save Meghna from any trouble that comes their way (bombs and the military) when in actuality he doesn’t know a thing about Meghna, who could easily take care of herself. He transfers his fantasies into reality when he hounds Meghna about why she doesn’t love him. His love for her is terribly one sided at the beginning and he simply cannot comprehend how that is possible, because in his fantasy, they are already in love.
Amar’s fantasy life finally begins to fade when he learns more about Meghna’s past. The argument the two have over why Meghna is a terrorist embody their beliefs. Amar, who is so deeply set in India being a unit, doesn’t understand why Meghna would want revenge. He even tells her there’s no point in hurting the country “because of what happened to a few”. Whereas Meghna firmly believes that she can bring change by causing such destruction, a change she is willing to sacrifice her life for. Mehna’s dedication to her cause could also be seen as her fantasy where if she continues to terrorize India and get revenge for past, she will gain more freedom and acceptance. Of course, there is no way to telling if this will actually happen, but she remains committed regardless. The fact is that no matter how much you believe your fantasy can come true, reality will always win- it is simply too unpredictable.
Filed by pgupta at February 28th, 2013 under Uncategorized