'A taste of the American life, of freedom, but buckling under the chaos and traditionalism.'
By Amartya Acharya
Amitabha Bagchi’s 2003 book “Above Average”, about life of an average IIT student, had a chapter about a student named Mandeep Singh, who grew up listening to MC Hammer, and had aspirations to be a drummer. In an effort to distinguish himself as a “rocker”, he would let hishair fly, which impressed his band-mates. They subsequently would ask him the secret about his hair, but when they would learn that he is a Sardar, they would be disappointed because of itsobviousness and would dub him as “Rocksurd”, short for “RockSardar”. The later chapters in the story would touch base with Rocksurd, who had cut his hair and was looking unrecognizable.There the reader would hear snippets of his family in an apoplectic rage, talks of disowning him etc.
At its core, Gabroo, directed by Varun Chounal, and co-written by Chounal and Varun Chopra is the story of a tug of war in Monty, a young Punjabi American teenager who loves making vlogs commenting on the Punjabi lifestyle and Indian culture as a whole. When he is consequently trolled on Youtube because of his hairy chest and body, old feelings of doubt as well as questions begin to resurface. The success of Gabroo lies in its portrayal of the typical Punjabi family, the chaos that follows; a pertinent lack of privacy and an abundance of coddling balanced with a healthy dose of fear of traditionalism. Maybe I have been inundated with the typical portrayal of the Punjabi lifestyle in other Bollywood movies, but unlike those Gabroo feels refreshingly honest, and mite personal. The fact that none of the actors are known faces also help in you completely getting invested in the story, which is simple but also funny.
Humor is an easier medium to drive home a message without making it feel didactic. Gabroo is advertising itself to be breaking Punjabi stereotypes, and while that doesn’t happen in thenarrative sense, it does happen from an audience point of view. For teenagers like Monty, getting a taste of the American life, of freedom, but buckling under the chaos and traditionalism, every little thing is the next big thing for them. Under the wrong hands the portrayal of this dilemma could have come off as mean spirited and almost low brow in humor. Chounal and Chopra, who also acts as the DP of the film, shows the existence of a hairy monster in the vein of Chewbacca, as a mental projection of Monty’s own current insecurities, and the subsequent sequence of the monster literally embracing Monty as he is trying to cut his body hair with trimmers, is simultaneously funny as well as surreal. Most importantly the weight of that sequence is not undercut with the traditional broad comedic music. His father berating him and hitting him on the head is funny but also poignant, showing a man who is trying to teach his own the values of tradition but unable to understand or even assuage the feelings of insecurity his son feels.
One of the bigger reasons this insecurity is compounded is social media’s influence, which is democratized and doesn’t believe in tradition. Thus Sunny, Monty’s friend is much more effective in navigating the American lifestyle with supposed flair and nonchalance because he is able to hustle his immigrant parents far better than Monty does, and also enjoy the happy-go-lucky social media inundated life. It is however heartwarming to see where the short film ends from the parents’ point of view – not with a bang, or a big proclamation, but with a realistic compromise, and consequent acceptance by Monty. It is inevitable that Monty might suffer from this questioning again, the tug of war between his two identities, but reconciliation as of now has been met, as is the movie which reconciles between dealing with a social message as well as delivering a movie which is equal parts funny and poignant. Kudos to Chounal for his able direction, and definite kudos to Chopra for shooting those surreal dream sequences with visual tricks available in his arsenal – he was able to both demarcate as well as highlight those sequences as pivotal moments.I would have liked this movie to deal with the body-shaming and trolling aspect far more, or even give a far more definite solution, but in hindsight a realistic conclusion with humor in its tone works for Gabroo.
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