With his first film in 2 whole years - Dev Anand tackles the complex social problem of love in Times Square. Ever watchful, he titles the film Love AT Times Square and the use of the uplifting AT instead of base IN sets the note for an experience of a lifetime.
Dev plays the pivotal and complex role of a widowed NRI billionaire whose young daughter has two suitors - one a yuppie IT whiz and the other a poor immigrant. She meets both suitors IN Times Square and is wooed by them both, and will pick one of them as her true love AT Time Square on new years eve - in the shadow of Dick Clark's giant ball.
Remarkably, the challenging role of the daughter is played by Heenee - possibly the first Dev find to be repeated in a Dev movie since Tina Munim - how special is that? Pouring all that she has into the role, Heenee outdoes her work in the formidable Dev masterpiece "Censor", and steals every heart including two lonely hearts AT Times Square. Who will win her heart AT Times Square? Will Dev get the girl as usual?
However, in a daring sub-plot, an exotic new Dev find named Sia plays the leader of a local girl band who develops a crush on 80-year old evergreen hero Dev - a Svengali to this merry band of young women - even as she sings thinly veiled odes to her love for him, violently playing a giant cello placed strategically between her comely thighs. How will this doomed romance end - will it be like that awful film with Richard Gere and Winona Ryder? Stunned fans ask - has the maestro slowed down given us a simple love story instead of an extraordinary hard-hitting critique of society - as he is prone to do? Is this Dev's "One from the Heart", his "Harvest Moon", his "Million Dollar Baby" ...you get the drift, right?
Thankfully not...Dev has some aces up his sleeve - surprisingly due to Osama Bin Laden and his band of evil-doers. As it turns out, the 9-11 tragedy took place while Dev was editing this film. Shaken by these events, Dev inter cuts some grainy CNN style footage of the attacks with footage of him looking out of a window. This montage of events is astonishingly effective - the viewer is convinced that Dev indeed did witness these events and has donated zillions to bail out New York. Take that Osama and what a mighty good man you are Dev Anand!
Is that all, you ask? Not quite...Dev has one more ace up his buttoned down long sleeve. As we mentioned, Dev is a widower and in a heartrending flashback we learn that he has lost his beloved wife, Moon Moon Sen, in a horrifying plane crash. In a poignant moment, he searches for her after the crash - staggering around in a burning-field-in-the-dark set, calling out her name in vain until he spots her wedding ring on the finger of a victim. He takes her hand quite literally - only to find that it is attached to an amputated arm - presumably all that is left of her corporeal body!
This is the capstone of a directorial career built on a deep and intimate understanding of the human condition by this unrelenting artist. After all, the auteur seems to ask us - in the end, what are you but a body attached to an arm? In one fell swoop, Dev renders all other things irrelevant and transcends film and enters the realm of eternity.
Thank you, O Maestro, for this mind expanding and deeply personal film. Shahkaal highly recommends this film to one and all, and recommends that you watch it on the big screen - even if you have to buy one for this very purpose!
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