By Enkayaar, Glamsham Editorial
Guru Dutt, the legend of Indian cinema would indeed be proud about the fact that with LOVE WRINKLE FREE projection of Goa on the silver screen has become more attuned to the ground realities. It is probably owing to the fact that the director of LOVE WRINKLE FREE, Sandeep Mohan himself is a boy from Goa, so he understands Goa much better than the directors who have shot Goa hitherto on the silver screen.
It was Guru Dutt in the first instance who had projected Goa as the city (then it was not a state) which was characterized by zest for life and a sense of enjoyment. Using Goa as the backdrop Guru Dutt was able to show on the silver screen how the women in Goa were more empowered than women in different parts of the country and Sandeep Mohan in LOVE WRINKLE FREE has also given a sense of independence to the characters in his film. Guru Dutt was proud about his Konkani heritage and he always projected it in a positive manner, and Sandeep Mohan in LOVE WRINKLE FREE has used interesting backdrops of Goa, the real Goa which does not include trance, drugs and mafias.
As a matter of fact the Goa boys, i.e. those who trace their lineage from backwaters of Goa have tried to dispel the image about Goa that has been formed in the mind of the general public as being the place which is characterized by drinks, drugs parties etc. Rohit Shetty, a prodigal Goa boy, initiated the process of projecting Goa as the state which is one of the most beautiful places to visit through his GOLMAAL series, more specifically GOLMAAL 2, GOLMAAL RETURNS and through SINGHAM. In GOLMAAL RETURNS the kind of landscapes that Rohit Shetty had used were the landscapes belonging to real Goa. Fortuitously or by design, Rohit Shetty shot most of the Goa during the day time in both the films, so the lush green landscape, the richly endowed water bodies in the state, the favorite tourist haunts frequented by the average tourist who visits Goa, all went on to underline the fact that Goa is a place to have fun and enjoyment.
Specifically through SINGHAM the landscape that was used between Sawantwadi and Goa and the backdrop of the villages used by Rohit Shetty underlined the fact that Goa indeed is a place which is full of natural endowments, and one should try to savor this part of Goa. Rohan Sippy through DUM MAARO DUM also attempted to portray a different Goa, but as the film focused more on the drugs and related paraphernalia, the film lost its focus in projecting the real Goa.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali through KHAMOSHI was the first director in the recent times that had projected real Goa in a realistic manner, especially the famous light house of Goa and the buses that link hinterland of Goa to the main city. Sandeep Mohan being closely associated with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for quite a long time would indeed have picked up the nuances from Bhansali to project Goa in a different manner, and the end product is there for all to see and savor in LOVE WRINKLE FREE.
One only hopes that Goa would continue, henceforth, to be projected in a realistic manner, and it would go a long way in dispelling the notion about the state as not being the state which is synonymous with easy life, but as being the state which has quite a lot of natural beauty to savor and revisit regularly.
