Dinesh Kamath's column on film 'Listen...Amaya' that was published in Newsband

The iconic jodi of 80s of realistic cinema, Deepti Naval and Farooque Shaikh have come together in a film after many years. Those who have been yearning to see the magic of the most loved pair of its times once again on-screen, the film Listen...Amaya will fulfill their wish. Thanks to debutante director Avinash Kumar Singh who brought the couple in a full-fledged role.

Deepti has reunited with Farooque after years. It's not that for 28 years they didn't meet at all. They often ran into each other at various occasions. It's just for the audience that they are seen together after a long gap. They picked it up from where they left. Now Listen...Amaya brings them as the main protagonists.

Besides Farooque, it was a mature subject and a completely new set-up which induced Deepti to take up Listen...Amaya. After a long time there was a mature subject, a proper script which was presenting her and Farooque in a right manner. With a new director, new set up and Farooque being there Deepti grabbed it with both the hands.

What makes Deepti and Farooque's pairing so endearing is the fact that both of them are mature and competent actors. They have a great tuning on-screen and comfort level. And that's the reason people have so much curiosity and are excited to see them together.

The two were a very popular pair of 80s. More than them it was the filmmakers' contribution that made them so lovable.

The film Listen...Amaya talks about the relationship between a widowed mother and daughter and also the mother's relationship with another man. They are not drawn to each other or romancing each other. They share a very mature relationship. It's more about companionship. They want to spend time together, be with each other. They like each other's company. It sort of raises various questions like whether they should get into relationship at this age and stage? Whether parents should be parents and stop being man and woman? Whether middle-aged people can find love again?"

As far as Deepti and Farooque are concerned Listen Amaya will rekindle the old romance. It's a lovely subject and handled sensitively by Avinash Kumar Singh. You can say that it is redefining their jodi, however in the middle-age.

Avinash Kumar Singh, director of the film Listen Amaya, and his wife wrote the film for Farooque Shaikh and Deepti Naval. They knew they wanted people of that calibre, that stature and look. The husband and wife were lucky that when they wrote and narrated it to the two actors, they agreed, even though they were first time directors.

The film tells the story of Amaya and her widowed mother, who begins to develop a relationship with Amaya's friend. Listen Amaya stars Swara Bhaskar in the title role while Deepti plays her mother. The leading lady of Listen... Amaya is Swara Bhaskar.

The USP of Listen...Amaya is that it is a very emotionally charged film. Such subjects do have the tendency of being overdramatic, but that is not the case here, and the reason is that Listen... Amaya has a very good script.

Listen...Amaya does prove that Swara is on dot. And with actors of the caliber of Farooque Shaikh, Deepti Naval and Swara (who has already shown her acting potential in Tanu Weds Manu) at the helm of affairs, Listen...Amaya will indeed be a very engrossing fare.

Swara Bhaskar has an author-backed role in Listen...Amaya. She essays the title character. And Swara is mighty excited about it!

Swara may be known to perform with ease; however, she found her character in Listen...Amaya pretty challenging. It's always easy to play oneself. So, it was pretty challenging as she was completely different as compared to Amaya. She had to relate with the emotional impulses of the character and bring out the required vulnerability. Swara, who shares screen space with the seasoned actors, is happy to have associated with Deepti and Farooque as they brought in a lot of creditability to the project. She got to learn a lot watching them. They made a wonderful pair on-screen, also they are very effortless actors. They both made her feel at ease.

Besides these two pairs of spouses at the helm, the story too revolves around a couple in love. A library-cum-coffee shop is owned and run by Leela Krishnamoorthy, a middle-aged widow. Amaya, Leela’s only child, is a firebrand 22 year-old writer, quick witted, confident and open-minded. They adore each other.

Jayant Sinha, a 60-year-old retired photographer, continues his chosen profession as a hobby. A great friend to Amaya, he decides to co-author a coffee table book, titled Memories…Of The Busy Bazaar. He also meets Leela and they strike a rapport.

One day, when Jayant spends the night in Leela’s home for a certain reason and Amaya walks in on them the next morning, she misunderstands their relationship.

This is not a film to be watched in a hurry, but something to think about and carry home with you, which you will. The movie passes on the message that love had no age barrier.

Thus the film is about Amaya, a girl who like all the other girls, thinks of parents as their providers and forget that they are individuals who have their own needs. They may even accept this about others till it happens in their home. And then the prospect of sharing one’s mother with someone else throws one off-kilter. Sometimes, they even accept this friend, but the thought of a parent having a sexual relationship with someone else is unbearable.

This sweet, heartwarming film that takes a deep look into the complex relationships in life certainly holds promise for some lovely music. The music department is headed by the young and multi-talented Indraneel Hariharan with lyrics by Punam Hariharan.      

The film has songs like Hey Hey Mrs. K sung by Ankur Sabarwal, Vidhi Sharma, Jeetendra Singh Jamwal and the composer himself, Mann Ki Patang by Vidhi Sharma, Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si by Kunal Ganjawala and Kashmakash by Kunal Ganjawala. Music will certainly prove to a plus point of the film.

Deepti Naval as a free spirited South Indian middle aged widow who runs a book shop belonging to an old era, which also is a hangout where one can have coffee, Swara as her only daughter, 22 years of age, a writer, and a girl of the present times, confident and with a street smart sense of humour and Farooque as a 60 year old photographer who documents life, people and the memories associated with their process of growing, and who hits off quite well with the daughter Amaya have done excellent jobs in this film.   

Thus the fact that modern women these days, especially a mother and a daughter living in metropolitan cities are undergoing this change in dynamics of relationship owing to mothers finding some hope of a new partner to hold their hands at the far end of their lives, and how the daughters reach, understand and help the mother in warming up to a new relationship is what forms the crux of Listen Amaya. Do watch the film.