Moksha: a movie, a metaphor, a personal immersion

If you are a young lover, this is for you. If you are struggling to make your place in the world, this is no roadmap but a boulder you can sit on and rest in your journey. If you find yourself walking a tight rope between practicality and idealism, this is no answer but a Pandora's box of questions you should never avoid. These thoughts would make more sense to you if you watched the 2001 crime thriller, Moksha by Ashok Mehta, starring Arjun Rampal and Manisha Koirala. 

I remember when I fell in love for the first time. When my heart, body, and mind finally confessed and yielded like an overflowing dam. When I would often find my soul dancing in my body. I was intoxicated. I was convinced, and I am still convinced. No one can love like me. There is no one as crazy, as loyal, as smitten, as definite, as loving, as accepting and as powerful as I can be in love, in separation, in longing, in death. 

Director Ashok Mehta had envisioned the same madness in the character of Manisha Koirala, as Ritika Sanyal in Moksha. She loves watching him. She knows his horse's name and that of his dog. She is stalking, and stealing, and confidently utters "I love you", when she finally gets to talk to him for the first time. However, one may not find Manisha's acting at par with the responsibility she had here. She is acting childish and clumsy. Ask me. She should stutter while talking to him, and the audience needed to hear her heart pounding whenever he appears on screen. She should have surrendered herself more dramatically. My eyes should not have been allowed to wander from her when the lovers make a deadly promise of love, loyalty, and support. 

- A still from the Movie 'Moksh'
The Painting presents the final metaphor of liberation

As Amrita Pritam says, " Aurat toh khud hi doobne ko taiyar hoti h. Bas dariya uski pasand ka hona chahiye" (A woman herself is ready to drown (in love), but the current should be of her choice). Ritika literally and metaphorically drowns, in love, for love, in loving often. I personally connected with whimsical eagerness to prove one's love to the other, when you fall for the first time. I too wanted to be tested on fire, engrave on concrete, and stretch myself to infinity to become a giant mortification of love itself. Ritika, a happy-go-lucky girl, becomes possessed and taken with ambitions, schemes, and ways of the man she loves.

Arjun Rampal plays the character of Vikram Sehgal here. It is an unimaginable performance for a debut and he looks stunning. His body sculpted, expressions stoic, sober, and depth in his eyes, beyond comprehension. He has certainly outperformed all he was envisioned for. I wish he was given more effective dialogues. He compensates well enough by communicating much more when he is not speaking. 

In the movie, he is a fallible Greek God (Reference to Jorge Luis Borges quote “To fall in love is to create a religion that has a fallible god.”). When Ritika tries to show a mirror to his shortcomings, she does so by saying, "Do you think of yourself as some messiah?" 

The story moves back and forth with flashbacks in colour and the present day shown in grey. It represents how the past filled with the anguish of not being able to do something, was still more colorful than the present, it finally led to.

Vikram enters the law profession, caged in a glass house of idealism and enthusiasm, which is quickly shattered. He finds that his motive to provide justice to everyone 'not guilty' can never be accomplished in a wealthy law firm catering to high-profile clients. A tragedy shakes him completely and he quits.

He envisions a law firm for the poor called 'Nyaydarshan' to disrupt the systematic injustices meted out to the poor so that the rich could get their way. He plans to provide 'quality' service so that justice is served in a true sense. Since he has no work experience and his father is one of the cartels of the crime, he struggles to get support. 

The posh lifestyles both Ritika and Vikram live are immensely grand, and that's why the stories of death and destitution turn their world upside down. I wondered if they could not gather the money they needed for the organization just from their pocket money and selling some fancy stuff they both had in their homes.  The psyche of Vikram is gradually built, so much so, that it does not feel bizarre when he decides to rob a bank for money. Ritika dies, Vikram becomes the prime suspect. Vikram ends up successfully defending his own case, which becomes the first and the last case of his life.

The film contains several visuals of deserts as flashes, used as metaphors and omens for what is about to happen. I think it is this interplay of elements like the desert painting, metaphors, nightmares, and the haunting score that elevates "Moksha" beyond a simple crime thriller. It becomes a meditation on love, disillusionment, and the corrosive nature of idealism in a corrupt world.

The film's strength lies in its ability to capture the raw, almost reckless abandon of first love, and then juxtapose it against the harsh realities of a world that refuses to bend to idealistic notions.

The ending, while perhaps ambiguous, serves to underscore the film's central themes. It leaves the audience pondering the nature of "moksha," not just as liberation from worldly suffering, but also as a state of acceptance and understanding. The desert imagery, prevalent throughout the film, culminates in a powerful metaphor for the barrenness of a world devoid of true justice and the emotional desolation that follows the shattering of ideals.

"Moksha" is not a film for those seeking easy answers or a conventional narrative. It's a challenging and thought-provoking exploration of love, loss, and the eternal struggle between idealism and reality. It's a film that lingers in the mind long after the credits roll, prompting reflection on the choices we make and the paths we choose. It is a powerful commentary on the human condition and the cost of unwavering belief.