Posted:
I am personally someone who believes that the starker a scene, the more powerful and poignant it is!
The tear that is held back is far more powerful than the one that is allowed to fall.
If tears have to be shed, there has to be a build up powerful enough to warrant them. Without that build up, I would never buy into an actor's performance! Because the set up to a scene is as important or more important than the actual scene itself.
I bought into SId's performance at the dining table, at the jungle and at the dargah because he brought a credibility to each of those moments. More importantly, they were scenes that had been well set up in terms of the writing. So I enjoyed them.
No actor can resurrect poor writing and I firmly believe in that. Also, when an actor has not bought into the moment, there is no way he can sell it to the audience. It is my feeling that SId never bought into the moment fully.
There was one moment though when he had me convinced. When he told Gayathri that she had fallen in love with the wrong man! He seemed perfectly convinced about what he was saying and doing there and so I bought in too. But this was because, that moment had been well set up. We had already seen RNJ repenting for his treatment of G. So, the actor was able to bring the right amount of sincerity and credibility to the moment.
I felt that the connect to the praja's anguish had not been sufficiently established/ explored. Hence a complete breakdown was simply not warranted there. Even before he started crying, I experienced a W*F moment! It was like this is going to warrant a breakdown of such proportions? When I was just shown a glimpse of the connect with the praja. Even that scene was not sufficiently explored but rather rushed through!
Much as I like Sid's style of acting, I would really call him out if he did a shoddy job of a well written moment! In this case, the moment was so shoddy that his performance made no difference to me.
However, he could've certainly cried better as an actor! Except that he would not have sold me the moment even then! Because I had already had my W*F moment even before he started crying!
DD was spot on because we have seen enough of her emotions for RNJ to buy into the moment. Her anguish, her helplessness, all of it was palpable because we know the magnitude of her emotions for RNJ.
Sid is a good actor but needs a good director and a good script! DD is a good actor but also needs a good director and a good script. And a good director needs a good script.
So that is the common denominator, the script. Hope the writing can get better in such key scenes and also hope the director can have a better vision. The actors will deliver because they are good at their job!
There are very few actors who make you forget the scene, forget the set up and everything else and enjoy their performance for what it is! I think they've bought so much into their craft that they are led by it rather than the script or the director. I don't think Sid is there yet! Maybe he will get there someday!
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Fan Fictions
