Agar kuchh milna ho to ittefaq se mil jaata hai
(If something is meant to be yours, you get it by coincidence.)

What can be more soul-satisfying than a pleasant romantic movie leaving an emotional mark on you as well as making you envious from the protagonists because you too want to have that happy ending in your love life just like the film Kuch Bheege Alfaaz? Directed by Onir, the film is a work of epistolary romance and has everything which can reinstate your faith in the fact that there are still some good filmmakers out there who are working towards not letting you down with the theme of old wine in a new bottle, but to satisfy you with a good concept that can make you feel content and rejuvenated.

The movie tells us the unlikely but amiable love story of Alfaaz (Zain Khan Durrani) – the enigmatic protagonist of this lovely movie. He is a mysterious radio jockey who dispenses Urdu poetry and tells poignant love stories on his show named Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz to all the residents of Kolkata. He prefers to keep his identity hidden and also has an aptness to allure anyone with his swoon-worthy voice.

Alfaaz’s character is very lonely in his life. He is coping with a sense of guilt buried deep in his heart. He is a man who has been so scarred by a traumatic past that he prefers the company of stray dogs to humans, a man who is carrying guilt and sorrow of the size of the ocean, a man who tries to hide behind his radio persona and the stories that he collects from the lives of the innumerable people who live in the city.

Archana (Geetanjali Thapa) on the other hand is a huge fan of Alfaaz and his show. She is quite the opposite of him – she is a free-spirited girl and works as a meme maker in a media company. Archie suffers from leucoderma, which has left white patches on her body and face. She hides behind a scarf and sunglasses (until the end) but is otherwise a free-spirited dreamer who lives by her own rules with the only aim to make the world laugh.

This is not a conventional love story.

Both the protagonists are broken. Alfaaz is broken from inside due to his troubled past and Archie is broken from outside due to her leucoderma. Their paths cross virtually one day when a wrong phone call made by Archie connects the two of them over eccentric messages. She addresses him as ‘Mr. Ittefaq’, completely unaware of his true identity. Alfaaz reveals his name to her as ‘Abhimanyu’. As time passes, they started falling for each other.

Kuch Bheege Alfaaz is beautifully shot in Kolkata and Abhishek Chatterjee’s screenplay did true justice to it. The best thing about this movie is that it is unlike many other Bollywood romance dramas made so far. In the movie, there is a scene where Archie portrays her imagination of Alfaaz in her own way when ‘Abhimanyu’ asks the story behind the composing of a turtle holding a cane in his circulated poems on WhatsApp. To which she replies:

Usske paaon zameen pad hain… pad dimaag junglon mein… kisi phakir ki tarah… uski band aankhein apne peeche kai ansoon, kai dard chupayein huye hain… dil mein bahut saare raaz hain, that want to explode… pad hoton pe phaili muskurahat ne unhe daba ke rakha hai…That’s my Alfaaz.

English Translation: His foot is on the ground but his mind is in the forests, like a dervish, his closed eyes bear many tears, hide many pains, there are a lot of secrets in his heart that want to explode, but smile on his face suppressed them. That’s my Alfaaz.

There is a scene in the movie where Alfaaz confesses his past guilt to Archie. The scene depicts the true emotion and pain of Alfaaz in such a relatable way that the viewer will feel the weight of guilt he carries every day with himself through his silence, and his distance. A character that surely leaves a mark on the viewer is Archie’s mother. A single mother who raised her daughter with so much love and affection, and teacher Archie to be true to herself. She has a loving and very friendly relationship with her daughter and is never imposing.

The highly anticipated meeting that took place between Archie and Alfaaz was like the coming together of two bright comets in one amazing, light-infused and soul-satisfying moment. The deep sigh of contentment can be felt when they both see each other. Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz is undoubtedly one of the most rewarding, romantic and tranquil movies I have savoured in a long while and will personally recommend it to everyone.

Also Read: Four More Shots Please: Scares The Sanskaari, But It Needs Nuance

Featured image used for representational purpose only. Image source: Hindustan Times