The last few seconds of an open-ended movie often leave people puzzled and sometimes irritated. While the closing credits are still rolling, we often raise our eyebrows in mock disbelief and scramble the remote to check whether the movie is really over or are there a few more minutes. I remember when I had watched my first open-ended movie at the age of around 12 or so, it made no sense at all. We were quite fast to judge that the movie had no sense and who would even watch these things!
It is probably for the same reason that open-ended hindi movies are a rare sight, at least in the mainstream bollywood. Recently, I’ve developed a strong liking for such hindi movies that went lost from the mainstream, and I am lucky to find and acknowledge these hidden jewels. Just ended up watching ‘Firaaq’, a movie portraying the lives of different people in the aftermath of communal riots. As the movie ended, I was indeed puzzled by the sudden end and carried the burden of a lot of questions in my mind. While still figuring it out, I had quite understood that this only was the exact intention of the director; To carry with us these questions and answer it in our own way.
The complete journey of the movie was quite gripping, and never did it give a moment to even blink. Probably that’s why the open-endedness of the movie was initially taken as a disappointment. However, the sudden end also gave me the chance to mentally go back through all the mini stories inside the movie, and realise that they had actually ended with all the characters paving through their journey to finally getting liberated. I don’t think any closed ended movie would be able to have struck such a chord and send me in the path of looking for answers.
That’s the magic of open-ended movies, they stay with you even after the movie ends!
