Meri Duniya Hai, Teri Chaahaton Mein

Main Dhal Jaati Hoon, Teri Aadaton Mein

Agar Tum Saath Ho

Tamasha came out when I was in seventh grade, 13, and the first time I watched it I hated it. It made no sense to me. I only liked the music from the film. But then I started studying psychology and movies like Karthik Calling Karthik, Dear Zindagi and Tamasha came as a result to a search on Google for bollywood movies that normalise mental health disorders.

I can’t recall the name of this Instagram influencer who loves this movie and wrote a whole thread on things this movie might be talking about. He wrote about Ved. The movie was about Ved. Ved’s struggle with finding his true self, his struggle with submitting to the societal norms and expectations, his struggle with fictional stories and reality.

He wrote about the symbolism of mirrors in Ved’s story and his family’s influence on his life choices but also his take on the stories he heard ever since he was a kid. It was all about him, and why wouldn’t it be?

He was the the hero of the movie. The protagonist.

But to me, the heroic act was the one that Tara pulled off.

Her character was etched to perfection, as if straight out of great literature.

She fell in love with the Ved she met in Corsica but kept the promise she made to him of not disclosing their real identities and never looking back after the trip was over.

She lived her life, succeeded too but with a part of her heart unhappy, yearning for the love of her life without even knowing his real name.

And after years when their paths cross, she was unafraid to take her chance at love.

Tara realised soon that the Don in Corsica was a different character than the Ved in Delhi.

Tara was the first one to see the real Ved, she found him hiding underneath, fighting to come out before Ved himself could.

Personality disorder. This is what Ved had and when he saw the signs and symptoms, he was scared and lost. Also mad at Tara for rejecting his marriage proposal and making him face the real him.

Tara doesn’t leave him amidst the chaos, even though he disrespects her and blames her time and again.

She holds onto her love and their relationship for the both of them, she takes care of him and waits.

She waits for him to find his essence and come back to her.

Tara stands by his side, forces him to be the best version of himself and fights for their relationship, all of this for love.

But she also does not diminish herself in the process.

Rishika, a close friend, once shared an article which said men are naturally assumed to be “the protector” and women, “the care-taker” in every relationship. It is psychological and maybe even genetic. Its been that way since the Stone Age.

Since then I have been wondering- Tara took care of Ved when he couldn’t, even though it was hurtful and difficult. She put his needs before her own, she loved him more than herself.

And as viewers, we expected her to do so. It wasn’t surprising, pretty normal and predictable in the film.

Maybe because we’ve all seen our mothers do that, our sisters, our girlfriends, our wives and our grandmoms.

Is it because she thinks it is her duty as the woman of the house or just out of love?