Phantom Thread and Padmaavat are two films that are as different as they come.
Phantom Thread is a story set in London in the 1950s, about a dressmaker who falls in love with a young waitress. Padmaavat, on the other hand, is a story set in Mewar in the 13th century, about a Muslim king who falls in love with a Rajput queen.
Phantom Thread deals with the messiness of relationships. Padmaavat deals with the valor, pride and self-respect of a community.
Yet, they portray love in very similar ways.
Yet, they portray love in very similar ways.
In Phantom Thread, Woodcock (brilliantly played by Daniel Day-Lewis) is a dressmaker obsessed with his work. He designs dresses even when he is seated at the dining table for breakfast. Alma (brilliantly played by Vicky Krieps, whose performance competes with Day-Lewis's in almost every scene) is a waitress with simple tastes and simple routines, and she finds Woodcock's compulsive obsession with work baffling. Don't you work when you work and don't you live when you live? Alma finds it difficult to understand the mind that worships work as life. As her loneliness and the resulting sadness slowly compound, she realizes that the only way she would be able to spend time with him, without disturbing his work, would be if he fell sick. And to achieve this, she takes the extreme step of feeding him poisonous mushrooms. After he falls sick, she is saddened by his state but she is also happy that she can finally love him the way she wants to.
In Padmaavat, Rani Padmavati (played by Deepika Padukone), in her first scene in the film, is busy deer hunting. She shoots an arrow at a deer but the arrow misses its target. She shoots the arrow again only to hit the wrong target this time - Ratan Singh (played by Shahid Kapoor). They lay eyes upon each other and as Padmavati slowly removes the arrow from Ratan Singh's body, love penetrates deeper into the two hearts. After the arrow comes out of his body, Ratan Singh collapses unconsciously in her arms. Padmavati attends to him for a couple of days and when Ratan Singh's wound heals and he says that he has to leave, she is saddened. She then pulls out a tiny knife and slashes at the wound. It is a desperate attempt to make him stay longer so that she can love him the way she wants to.
Paul Thomas Anderson and Sanjay Leela Bhansali are two filmmakers who are as different as they come.
Consider a Magnolia against a Black. Consider a There will be blood against a Guzaarish. Consider an Inherent Vice against a Bajirao Mastani.
Yet, they portray love in very similar ways.
As I try to find connections between the works of these two artists, one of my favorite quotes catches me unguarded. A quote from Charles Bukowski.
Find what you love and let it kill you.
Could the group of artists get more diverse, with a PTA and a Bhansali and a Bukowski?
Another example that art/love is so personal and yet so universal.
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