Being Cyrus

Article Updated 27 March, 2006 01:11:18 PM IST

Being Cyrus

The two stars are for some brilliant performances and the basic concept of the film at the story level. But it has gone haywire in the execution stage. Parsis are associated with being a little crazy and this has been used in the film to provide humour but unfortunately it only belittles the community. If the community is associated with madness then it also possesses other virtues that make it stand out.

But to give credit to the maker, the basic premise of the film is novel. If only it had been well-executed on screen. The film is being wrongly promoted as a love affair between a married woman (played by Dimple Kapadia) and a young guy (played by Saif). Let's clear this misconception. This is just used to sell the film. So what's the story of the film?

'Being Cyrus' revolves around a Parsi family, the Sethnas. Dinshaw Sethna (Naseeruddin Shah) is a retired sculptor and lives with his wife, Katy (Dimple Kapadia), in an old family house in Panchgani. His brother, Farokh (Boman Irani), lives with his wife Tina (Simone Singh) and father Fardoonjee (Honey Chhaya) in Mumbai.

Now for a dark family secret. Farokh is a hateful character and ill treats his father. He is also rude to his young wife and neglects her. Although Fardoonjee owns the building in which they live, he is living like a prisoner in his own house, courtesy Farokh.

Now hold your breath, believe it or die, Katy is having a secret love affair with her brother-in-law, Farokh. We wonder (although she comes across as a nymphomaniac!) what she ever saw in him!

Cut to Panchgani. Cyrus (Saif Ali Khan) arrives at Dinshaw's house early in the morning just out of the blue and offers to become his assistant. He spends a year with them and in the process a strange sort of friendship develops between Katy and him.

In case you want to read between the lines then there is a hint of a physical relationship between the two but no real intimate scenes. She sends Cyrus to her father-in-law's house in Mumbai with some money for him. Cyrus befriends the father. He visits the old man a few times.

Slowly as the film proceeds you realize the twist in the story and are bound to be even more convinced about not taking people at face value. To say anything more would take out the suspense and thrill element in the film.

The performances: Boman Irani, Simone Singh, and Honey Chhaya are just brilliant. Naseeruddin Shah looks doped throughout the film.

Saif is good. He's underplayed his character but at times he makes the film seem too abstract.

Dimple goes over the top in some scenes. Otherwise she's good.

To give credit to the debutant director, he has created the typical Parsi atmosphere in the film. Don't know if credit goes to the actors but some portions have been brilliantly handled by him. Like for instance the scene between Simone and the cop in the cop station, the scene at the bone-setter as well as Saif's portions towards the end of the film.

The cinematography and background music is good. But don't even expect any box office prospects for this film. Look at it as one of those festival films.

** (Two stars)
*poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent

Print this Article

http://www.bollyvista.com

http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/29/6381