Ishqzaade

Starring
Arjun Kapoor
Pariniti Chopra

This is one of those meaningful movies that makes you take a step back from the happy go lucky world of Bollywood musicals and rom-coms.  Ishqazaade parallels that of many modern day Romeo & Juliet stories and makes you realize the harsh realities of young people coming from two very different religious backgrounds. It also shows us the depth of the beliefs within Islam and Hinduism.

The tragic love story follows the two main characters Parma and Zoya. They both live in a small village and come from very religious and politically driven families.  I didn’t realize people could be that hardcore about their beliefs and it made me feel that, maybe, I was too fickle a person to be capable of such unswerving faith.  So Zoya, being Muslim, is Parma’s (a hindu) absolute enemy and their parents are rivals in the towns political race.  Parma is the local badass that spends most of his time partying with his gang of goons, raising hell in the streets and drinking his nights away in the arms of a beautiful prostitute.  Zoya is an independent hothead.  She doesn’t want to fulfill the typical duties of a Muslim woman, she doesn’t want to marry and keep house and  she’d rather follow in her father’s footsteps and hold a position of power.  They end up together after a pretty rough altercation at a university.

At first the relationship is very unhealthy, they fight constantly and Zoya can’t imagine that his interest in her is genuine.  He eventually woos her and they enjoy a typical bollywood movie romance.  Parma convinces Zoya to have a discreet Hindu wedding with just his friends in attendance and Zoya regretfully accepts.  I say regretfully because after they take their vows he unceremoniously takes her to an abandoned train where they have sex for the first time.  Now up until this point I was taking the movie very seriously but the minute Parma gets up and leaves her there half naked, spouting harsh insults about being Muslim trash, I couldn’t help but bursting in out into laughter.
It was so unexpected.  I never thought the story would have taken such a crazy turn.  I laughed hard but I also felt bad for Zoya.  I mean he took her virginity under false affections and then he sent out pictures across the internet of her Hindu wedding.
He really did some low down dirty things.

Later in the movie, after a climactic scene where Parmas mother is accidentally killed while trying to protect Zoya, the story takes on another feel.  We now see Parma's retribution.  He tries to win Zoya's trust and convince her that his love for her is true and she was a better person than I would have been in that situation.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, when she stabbed him with the broken glass I was like “you go girl!!” but other than that, she accepted him back into her life pretty easily.
However, we do have to keep in mind that she didn’t have much of a life left, her family had written her off and her community shunned her.

SPOILER!! The movie ends with both Parma and Zoya killing each other.  The irony of their deaths is that the two families Hindu and Muslim both joined forces to try and kill their own children.
Like I said I’m way too fickle to understand the loyalty that this would entail.

It was an emotional movie, not a traditional bollywood romance in the least. However it is an important film that portrays the realities of two very different religions under one culture.  Put it in your queue. Watch it and let it marinate.

Article by the Diner's very own Bollywood reporter Kiva Ashby