Tabaah

Unrequited love in the Devdas mould is often the go-to subject of Indian cinema, and now it seems in Punjabi movies too. When singer-actor Parmish Verma picks up the directorial baton and wears the producer’s hat as well for his latest film, Tabaah, you know what to expect. The title of the film literally translates to devastation, ruin or destruction, and the opening scenes establish our hero, Verma himself, in self-destruct mode. Like good-old Devdas, pining for his beloved, he is drinking himself to death. At the very start of the film, the poetic lines by novelist Kristin Hannah establish the tragic mood of the film. Taken from her novel The Nightingale (2015), it goes: “Some stories don’t have happy endings. Even love stories. Maybe especially love stories.” Clearly, it’s a love story gone sour. Why? Here, the writer, Gurjind Maan, deserves credit. He has not created any archetype villain in this love story. No family rivalry, no class divide and no parental interference either. Amber’s father (Kanwaljit Singh) is as supportive and caring as fathers are meant to be. So, why has it not ended happily ever after for our hero, Amber, and heroine, Raavi, played by the lovely Wamiqa Gabbi?