Such a Long Journey
Encyclopedia
Such a Long Journey is a film based on the novel of the same name
written by Rohinton Mistry
. It is directed by Sturla Gunnarsson
from a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala
.
) is a Parsi bank clerk who lives with his family in Bombay (Mumbai
) just before the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
. At first he seems to be a self-centred, self-involved neurotic man who is so tied up in his own pain for perceived slights both past and present that he cannot seem to connect with either friends or family. He is haunted by memories of a privileged youth and his father's fortune, lost to the machinations of a scheming, unscrupulous uncle. He is baffled by the changes wrought in his eldest son, Sohrab (Vrajesh Hirjee
), who is having a difficult coming of age. A childhood friend, Jimmy Bilimoria (Naseeruddin Shah
), has become a swashbuckling, swaggering member of the military. At the beginning of the movie, Major Jimmy has abandoned a lifelong friendship with Gustad without warning or explanation, and Gustad is angry and resentful over the desertion. Soon the Major contacts Gustad, ostensibly to restore their friendship, but in actuality he uses their past acquaintance to impose on Gustad for help in a clandestine plan to put money into the hands of rebels in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) When Gustad has second thoughts and tries to back out of the plan, the family cat is killed in a gruesome way and left for Gustad to find with a threatening note attached.
During a chance conversation with a street artist, Gustad encourages him to bring his art to the eyesore of a wall in front of his house, which he feels will give the artist's work a permanence which he cannot achieve by painting and repainting the public sidewalk where he has been working up to now. The artist is at first dismissive of the idea, stating that impermanence is the way of the world, but eventually comes to begin his work there.
Desperate to protect his family from the Major's threats, Gustad seeks help from a friend at the bank, Dinshawji (Sam Dastor
), a bumbling, foolish man who nevertheless shows his great heart in his simple faith in his friend, even when things go badly wrong and both are put in danger by Jimmy's shadowy machinations and his eventual incarceration by the government. Wracked by guilt and caught between their fear of being caught by the government and the fear of retaliation by the Major's thuggish, and often invisible, associates, Gustad and Dinshawji forge ahead with trepidation to implement the Major's money-laundering plan. In fear of discovery, Gustad is driven to admonish Dinshawji about his buffoonish and lewd behaviour around one of the bank secretaries, and indeed around most of the other employees in general. They decide that in order to cover up the real reason for Dinshawja's changed behaviour, which both men fear would draw as much or more attention than his usual buffoonery, they will explain the new quieter Dinshawja by spreading a rumour that he has fallen ill. Later, Gustad will realize this was inadvertently prophetic, and he is stricken by guilt over the idea that the stress of their undertaking may have led to the actual collapse of Dinshawja's health.
Gustad's youngest child, his daughter, Roshan, is stricken by malaria. Between this incident and the estrangement that leads their oldest son to argue with his father and leave home, Gustad's wife, Dilnavaz (Soni Razdan), is convinced by a neighbour that her family is under a curse of black magic and, despite her qualms, begins a ritual to transfer the bad luck to the simpleton Tehmul, played to devastating effect by Kurush Deboo
. Gustad and Dilnavaz go to a Parsi temple, where Gustad makes a simple, heartfelt prayer for the recovery of his daughter; for the health of his friend, Dinshawja, and for the return of his son to the family; at the end, he says, "and don't worry about my hip, it's not that important." (in reference to a serious injury he had suffered years before when he pushed his son out of the way of a car after the child had run out into the street unexpectedly, an injury which previously had frequently preoccupied Gustad's thoughts).
Government officials take Major Jimmy into custody when they discover his plot to divert government funds to the resistance movement in Pakistan. Broken by torture, Major Jimmy asks for Gustad's forgiveness from his deathbed in a hospital jail. Gustad struggles with his feelings over the Major's initial abandonment of their friendship, then his imposition on that friendship that put his family and friends in danger, understanding at the end just how much Major Jimmy sacrificed to hide Gustad's inadvertent and eventually forced involvement in the Major's plot. Shortly thereafter, the war between Pakistan and India erupts.
When Gustad patrols the building where he rents a room during an air raid to make sure all the lights are off, he catches the simpleton, Tehmul, making love to a large bride doll stolen from Gustad's daughter. At first recoiling from what he sees as an act of perversion, Gustad recognizes the terrible loneliness of the simpleton and his initial anger and disgust is quickly tempered by a compassion of which he most likely would have been incapable at the beginning of the movie.
Meanwhile, the wall outside his home has been transformed from a trash clogged public urinal to a beautiful mural, which the local residents treat as a holy shrine. When municipal work crews show up to break the wall down, acting on orders issued years ago to remove it as a public nuisance, a riot breaks out, resulting in the death of the simpleton Temuhl. In the wake of this tragic death, Gustad experiences a moment of clarity and openness that leads him to step out of his preoccupation with the perception of his own pain and truly experience the fullness of his compassion for others.
Gustad moves through the kaleidoscope of his troubled life at first as if a helpless victim, a mere spectator, anxious and overwrought at the chaos around him, clearly feeling isolated and that his life is spinning out of control. His disconnection and alienation is underscored by the way events are presented, strung like pearls as if they are discrete events which are whole in and of themselves, even though at the root they are all connected and as much a part of Gustad as he is of them. His transformation is subtle, but steady, until by the end of the movie, events that would have destroyed the man he was are surmounted and accepted by the man he has become. He has, perhaps unknowingly, internalized and accepted an observation made by the artist, that many of mankind's troubles arise from our attempts to deny the fact of the impermanent nature of the universe and to impose our ideas of permanence in its place. Gustad bids farewell to the artist as he nonchalantly walks off into the busy street while municipal workers tear down the painted wall.
Such a Long Journey (novel)
Such a Long Journey is a 1991 novel by Rohinton Mistry. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won several other awards. In 2010 the book made headlines when it was withdrawn from the University of Mumbai's English syllabus after complaints from the family of the Hindu nationalist politician...
written by Rohinton Mistry
Rohinton Mistry
Rohinton Mistry is an Indian-born Canadian writer in English. Residing in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Mistry is of Indian origin, originally from Mumbai, Zoroastrian and belongs to the Parsi community. Mistry is a Neustadt International Prize for Literature laureate .-Biography:Rohinton Mistry was...
. It is directed by Sturla Gunnarsson
Sturla Gunnarsson
Sturla Gunnarsson is a Canadian film director.Gunnarsson was born in Iceland in 1951. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, with his parents when he was seven years old. As he grew up he became interested in filmmaking and went to the University of British Columbia where he completed...
from a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala
Sooni Taraporevala
Sooni Taraporevala is an internationally acclaimed screenwriter and photographer, currently based in India. She is best known as the screenwriter of Mississippi Masala, The Namesake and Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay , all directed by Mira Nair.She directed her first feature film, based on a...
.
Plot
Gustad Noble (Roshan SethRoshan Seth
Roshan Seth is an Indian-born British actor, who appears mainly in British and American films. He is known for his critically acclaimed performances in the films Gandhi, Mississippi Masala, Not Without My Daughter, My Beautiful Laundrette, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Such a Long...
) is a Parsi bank clerk who lives with his family in Bombay (Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
) just before the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases...
. At first he seems to be a self-centred, self-involved neurotic man who is so tied up in his own pain for perceived slights both past and present that he cannot seem to connect with either friends or family. He is haunted by memories of a privileged youth and his father's fortune, lost to the machinations of a scheming, unscrupulous uncle. He is baffled by the changes wrought in his eldest son, Sohrab (Vrajesh Hirjee
Vrajesh Hirjee
Vrajesh Hirjee is a prominent Gujarati actor who is also well known for his comic roles in Hindi movies. Vrajesh was born in 1977.He has acted in over 40 Gujarati plays.He has since then done a number of successful movies like Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai,...
), who is having a difficult coming of age. A childhood friend, Jimmy Bilimoria (Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
), has become a swashbuckling, swaggering member of the military. At the beginning of the movie, Major Jimmy has abandoned a lifelong friendship with Gustad without warning or explanation, and Gustad is angry and resentful over the desertion. Soon the Major contacts Gustad, ostensibly to restore their friendship, but in actuality he uses their past acquaintance to impose on Gustad for help in a clandestine plan to put money into the hands of rebels in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) When Gustad has second thoughts and tries to back out of the plan, the family cat is killed in a gruesome way and left for Gustad to find with a threatening note attached.
During a chance conversation with a street artist, Gustad encourages him to bring his art to the eyesore of a wall in front of his house, which he feels will give the artist's work a permanence which he cannot achieve by painting and repainting the public sidewalk where he has been working up to now. The artist is at first dismissive of the idea, stating that impermanence is the way of the world, but eventually comes to begin his work there.
Desperate to protect his family from the Major's threats, Gustad seeks help from a friend at the bank, Dinshawji (Sam Dastor
Sam Dastor
Sam Dastor is an actor best known for his appearances in British television series.He is perhaps best remembered for playing Cassius Chaerea in the 1976 BBC adaptation of I, Claudius...
), a bumbling, foolish man who nevertheless shows his great heart in his simple faith in his friend, even when things go badly wrong and both are put in danger by Jimmy's shadowy machinations and his eventual incarceration by the government. Wracked by guilt and caught between their fear of being caught by the government and the fear of retaliation by the Major's thuggish, and often invisible, associates, Gustad and Dinshawji forge ahead with trepidation to implement the Major's money-laundering plan. In fear of discovery, Gustad is driven to admonish Dinshawji about his buffoonish and lewd behaviour around one of the bank secretaries, and indeed around most of the other employees in general. They decide that in order to cover up the real reason for Dinshawja's changed behaviour, which both men fear would draw as much or more attention than his usual buffoonery, they will explain the new quieter Dinshawja by spreading a rumour that he has fallen ill. Later, Gustad will realize this was inadvertently prophetic, and he is stricken by guilt over the idea that the stress of their undertaking may have led to the actual collapse of Dinshawja's health.
Gustad's youngest child, his daughter, Roshan, is stricken by malaria. Between this incident and the estrangement that leads their oldest son to argue with his father and leave home, Gustad's wife, Dilnavaz (Soni Razdan), is convinced by a neighbour that her family is under a curse of black magic and, despite her qualms, begins a ritual to transfer the bad luck to the simpleton Tehmul, played to devastating effect by Kurush Deboo
Kurush Deboo
Kurush Deboo is an Indian film actor. He was first noticed as Shah Rukh Khans loyal friend in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. He is most famous for his role as Dr...
. Gustad and Dilnavaz go to a Parsi temple, where Gustad makes a simple, heartfelt prayer for the recovery of his daughter; for the health of his friend, Dinshawja, and for the return of his son to the family; at the end, he says, "and don't worry about my hip, it's not that important." (in reference to a serious injury he had suffered years before when he pushed his son out of the way of a car after the child had run out into the street unexpectedly, an injury which previously had frequently preoccupied Gustad's thoughts).
Government officials take Major Jimmy into custody when they discover his plot to divert government funds to the resistance movement in Pakistan. Broken by torture, Major Jimmy asks for Gustad's forgiveness from his deathbed in a hospital jail. Gustad struggles with his feelings over the Major's initial abandonment of their friendship, then his imposition on that friendship that put his family and friends in danger, understanding at the end just how much Major Jimmy sacrificed to hide Gustad's inadvertent and eventually forced involvement in the Major's plot. Shortly thereafter, the war between Pakistan and India erupts.
When Gustad patrols the building where he rents a room during an air raid to make sure all the lights are off, he catches the simpleton, Tehmul, making love to a large bride doll stolen from Gustad's daughter. At first recoiling from what he sees as an act of perversion, Gustad recognizes the terrible loneliness of the simpleton and his initial anger and disgust is quickly tempered by a compassion of which he most likely would have been incapable at the beginning of the movie.
Meanwhile, the wall outside his home has been transformed from a trash clogged public urinal to a beautiful mural, which the local residents treat as a holy shrine. When municipal work crews show up to break the wall down, acting on orders issued years ago to remove it as a public nuisance, a riot breaks out, resulting in the death of the simpleton Temuhl. In the wake of this tragic death, Gustad experiences a moment of clarity and openness that leads him to step out of his preoccupation with the perception of his own pain and truly experience the fullness of his compassion for others.
Gustad moves through the kaleidoscope of his troubled life at first as if a helpless victim, a mere spectator, anxious and overwrought at the chaos around him, clearly feeling isolated and that his life is spinning out of control. His disconnection and alienation is underscored by the way events are presented, strung like pearls as if they are discrete events which are whole in and of themselves, even though at the root they are all connected and as much a part of Gustad as he is of them. His transformation is subtle, but steady, until by the end of the movie, events that would have destroyed the man he was are surmounted and accepted by the man he has become. He has, perhaps unknowingly, internalized and accepted an observation made by the artist, that many of mankind's troubles arise from our attempts to deny the fact of the impermanent nature of the universe and to impose our ideas of permanence in its place. Gustad bids farewell to the artist as he nonchalantly walks off into the busy street while municipal workers tear down the painted wall.