Tamasha is such a Shravana/Monkey Yoni film !!

A very self indulgent, opinions/analysis thread lmao might add more thoughts later

VED - Ranbir Kapoor
Shravana
Hasta

TARA - Deepika Padukone
PA
Swati

Starting from the poster- headphones/music are token Shravana rep tools as we know Closing off unnecessary receptivity.

Ved & Tara sharing music, as if they’re drowning out everyone’s opinions, impressions and living in their own little world dancing to their own tune

“Tamasha” = Drama

Ved is free spirited and imaginative but bound by norms and standards set by his father.

His father would constantly belittle him because he wasn’t conventional or good at math/science like other the kids, ingraining a “what will people think” mentality in him

This forces Ved to suppress his talent for storytelling and focus on living upto his father’s (and eventually his workplace boss’s) expectations instead

Saturn themes of feeling constrained by the imposing father/authority—The Sun

The power of connectivity theme is seen right from the opening credits where Chali Kahani (“So The Story Goes”) is playing and Ved is linking stories from one mythology to another.

He visualises how one story from one religion or culture’s lore can easily bleed into another’s.

Note how it links 3 rivers/3stories ^ 3 being Shravana’s sacred number (the three steps of Vamana)

Ved meets Tara on a holiday in Corsica where they mutually decide and pretend to be their favourite movie characters.

They speak like them, exaggerate and ape their behaviour for fun

The song Matargashti also has a part where Ved literally makes monkey noises

Years later, they meet again in India and begin dating.

Tara witnesses the “other” side of Ved where he’s nothing but a bootlicking, below average, corporate employee who’s only around because of his good manners

Which brings me to my theory on two sides of the monkey yoni—

One where you show your eccentricity, act or perform for fun by your own accord to express yourself

The other where you tap into aping as survival skill. You pick up social niceties, mould yourself by observing people so you can “act” to fit in.

We also see this with Tara on separating from Ved after Corsica

Heer Toh Badi Sad Hain (“Heer is Miserable”) plays, the lyrics depicting how emotionally constipated she is xD

She’s acts like she’s fine, working hard and earning promotions but is deeply sad.

Imo this tends to be harder on Shravanas in general—naturally outcasts.

Wanting to fit in because things will be easier but also not because you’re afraid of losing your spark/talent because you’re aware that it can make a difference to the society or to you.

This is esp prominent in Ved’s behaviour. At one point he has a mental breakdown and talks to himself—his “other” side in a mirror

Vishnu, the deity of shravana is the Sustainer. He’s the director, the puppeteer of the drama (Tamasha) that is the universe

I’d like to juxtapose this theme w Ved’s journey who in the end, leaves his boring, repetitive job and becomes a storyteller—

quite literally directing plays and ultimately assuming control, becoming the “director” of his own life.

I also think storytelling in general has a Shravana component to it. Especially mythology/lore.

Stories connect people and people live/sustain beyond their mortal life through them.

“Shravanam” was also the preferred method of teaching-learning in ancient India, often used stories since they’re are an easy way to teach complex ideas.

That’s why we have so many stories used to teach us concepts—like our Nakshatra lores for instance

I find this idea of complex concepts being made easy interesting because this is exactly what Ved does in the end too.

He sits his family down and narrates his own struggle in the form of a story. They finally connect to Ved and moved by his skill, decide to support him.

Adding this because it’s gorgeous and gives you a better idea on Ved and Tara’s dynamic
https://twitter.com/goghmind/status/1353688568237940736

Ok last xD Forgot to add that these two sides of monkey yoni are represented by the clown and the robot in the opening sequence

“We’re both connected, eternally inseparable” the clown says to the robot https://twitter.com/turiyaa/status/1354235927824982019