Tomorrow comes

Dev Anand believed he was ahead of his times Most people who are spoken of thus are in fact uniquely of their time as John Waters a marvellous American filmmaker has said Their work and lives mirror the tide as it turns the time that is becomingThey capture the imagination of the moment and give it shape which is why their work acquires resonance Because people are human they often begin to believe the mythology about themselves and in the process flatten themselves into the idea of themselves They cling to this idea and do not or cannot change and so it is that slowly they who were on timersquos cutting edge slowly fall behind the times They say something like this happened to Dev Anand who grew from a figure of adoration to a perplexing anachronism But could we be wrongIn 2001 Dev Anand made a film called Censor which belongs to that part of his oeuvre that his fans would like to forget In this film Vikramjeet a selfproclaimed modern man played by Dev saab makes a modern film which is ldquotruly internationalrdquo called Aane Wala Kal Alas this film is too modern for the Indian authorities ie the Censor Board VikramjeetDev Anand is frustrated He tries to ingratiate himself with the Censor Board chief played by Rekha To please her he organises a soiree which features Rekha chewing paan and enjoying a mujra performance But no joy His frustration growsIllustration Amit BandreBut his frustration is not so much about wanting the janta to see his creation What he is really after is an Oscar But without the Central Board of Film Certification CBFC and Reserve Bank of India RBI permission so the movie informs us he cannot send it What should Vikramjeet do Enter Archana Puran Singh who is always seen sitting on a sofa talking on the phone patting what may be Barbara Cartlandrsquos mummified dog From the way she calls Vikramjeet lsquosweethaarrtrsquo it is obvious she lives in El Ay Which qualifies her to be the coproducer of the film and enter it for the OscarsThe film is nominated One of the performances featured at the ceremony is a song from Aane Wala Kal Yes this scene seems to be shot in Ketnav preview theatre but only if you donrsquot understand good cinema will you question this because it is a trope of a genre called imaginative realism with an emphasis on native sweetharrrt Anyway this exotic genre is well understood abroad even if Indians donrsquot have any kadar for it so that is why the film wins both Best Foreign Film and Best Director Academy AwardsBut this is not the end Spoiler Alert aise hi bolte hain na film review mein In a frightening twist there is an attempt on the directorrsquos life I wonrsquot tell you the end For that yoursquoll have to look for this rare gem the hard way like I did I can guarantee you honestly donrsquot have to be high to enjoyI admit I laughed hysterically through it Because I Was A Stupid Girl As if Indians will be so interested in finding a way to send films to Oscars and all I said We have such a big audience here yaar we donrsquot care about all that I was wrong Dev saab was right In fact he may have created a deeply mystical and wise Indian genre my Bgrade brain did not identify called predictive realism I am sorry for laughing because Dev saab nahin rahe but aane wala kal is hereParomita Vohra is an awardwinning Mumbaibased filmmaker writer and curator working with fiction and nonfiction Reach her at wwwparodevicomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper