More than halfway through the film, Rafi's grandmother asks him if their impoverished and difficult life in rural UP was devoid of laughter. Perhaps not - she frequently refers to his smile, indicating a childhood that had its share of happiness. But as an adult, making a living as a photographer at the Gateway of India in Mumbai, his desire to come out of his economic deprivation and perhaps also emerge out of his rural background is so intense, he seems to have lost the ability to laugh, to seek happiness.
Miloni has been raised by her middle class parents with a clear mission to excel academically. They are ruthless in this pursuit: there are to be no distractions; happiness and pleasure could come later. And she doesn't disappoint, topping her CA foundation course and well on her way towards "success". But she is conscious of the prison that her life seems to her and longs to find a world outside the prison. She expresses this longing in one of the most endearing moments in the film: she is meeting a prospective husband (organized by her parents because he has good "prospects", living as he is in America) and in response to his question about where she would like to live, she says she wants to live in a village, farming and taking mid-day naps under a tree.
This apparent contradiction in what each wants out of their lives is shown with great subtlety through an incident in a taxi. The taxi driver is from a village not 40 miles from Rafi's village. While the taxi driver is fondly narrating a story to somebody he thinks his own, Rafi rudely cuts him off. It is a past that Rafi clearly wants to leave behind. But it is a future that Miloni looks forward to.
The dreamy eyed Rafi wants to start a cola manufacturing company. And Miloni disowns her past by not accepting it is she on the posters that advertise her academic excellence. They are moving towards their own destinies. But perhaps in so, they could also be moving away from each other.
Miloni has been raised by her middle class parents with a clear mission to excel academically. They are ruthless in this pursuit: there are to be no distractions; happiness and pleasure could come later. And she doesn't disappoint, topping her CA foundation course and well on her way towards "success". But she is conscious of the prison that her life seems to her and longs to find a world outside the prison. She expresses this longing in one of the most endearing moments in the film: she is meeting a prospective husband (organized by her parents because he has good "prospects", living as he is in America) and in response to his question about where she would like to live, she says she wants to live in a village, farming and taking mid-day naps under a tree.
This apparent contradiction in what each wants out of their lives is shown with great subtlety through an incident in a taxi. The taxi driver is from a village not 40 miles from Rafi's village. While the taxi driver is fondly narrating a story to somebody he thinks his own, Rafi rudely cuts him off. It is a past that Rafi clearly wants to leave behind. But it is a future that Miloni looks forward to.
The dreamy eyed Rafi wants to start a cola manufacturing company. And Miloni disowns her past by not accepting it is she on the posters that advertise her academic excellence. They are moving towards their own destinies. But perhaps in so, they could also be moving away from each other.
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