You are what you hide

Film : Dhokha

Year of release : 2007

Spoken by : Raj Mehra (Gulshan Grover)

Spoken to : Zaid Ahmad Khan (Muzammil Ibrahim)

Johari windows is a concept which has always enchanted me. It basically divides aspects of his personality into four windows or quadrants.

The first quadrant contains aspects which are known to self and known to others as well. Rightly this quadrant is called ‘Arena’. The second quadrant contains which are not known to others but are known to self. This quadrant is called ‘Façade’. The third quadrant has areas which are known to others but not known to self. This quadrant is called ‘Blind Spot’. And the most important quadrant is the fourth quadrant which has aspects not known to self or to others. This quadrant or window is called ‘Unknown’.

The movie Dhokha is about a Muslim police officer who is happily married to a woman who turns out to be a terrorist. Initially he absolutely refuses to believe the Anti-Terrorist Squad’s theory. As evidence unfolds, he grudgingly starts seeing the truth. But in one such moment where he is struggling between belief and incredulity, he screams that Sara (Tulip Joshi) was so happy with him. Raj Mehra responds with

Officer, insaan jo dikhaataa hai, vo uskaa sach nahee hotaa …uskaa sach wo hotaa hai jo vo chhupaataa hai – you are what you hide!

ऑफ़िसर इंसान जो दिखाता है, वो उसका सच नहीं होता...उसका सच वो होता है जो वो छुपाता है – You are what you hide!

This is Mahesh Bhatt’s reference to the ‘Façade’ window of the Johari windows. Think about it. What is your truth? What is it that you hide?