Kongkan Nag Reward Points : 25600 Member Since : Saturday, March 14, 2009
Hi all, have you seen the film titled Mumbai Meri Jaan? I think this is one of the best movies I have seen in the recent months. The movie is based on the shocking bomb blast in Mumbai trains in July, 2006 and deals with several factors related to that unfortunate incident. Though the film did not make any record at the Box Office, it is a must see to me. What say?
Posted On : 4/1/2009 4:42:49 AM
Anju Malhotra Reward Points : 61200 Member Since : Tuesday, March 31, 2009
This movie could not have come at a better time. After the recent serial blasts, Mumbai Meri Jaan comes in to remind us just what devastation an act of terror can do to a city and it s people. Based on the serial blasts which rocked surburban Mumbai trains on July 11, 2006, the movie explores the impact of this devastating incident through the lives of a TV journalist Soha Ali Khan , a patriotic corporate man R Madhavan , a retiring policeman Paresh Rawal , a rookie cop at the dawn of his career Vijay Maurya , an angry Hindu fanatic Kay Kay Menon , and a coffee-vendor struggling to make ends meet Irrfan Khan . The film follows the lives of these people as they tackle the aftermath of a fatal incident that brings out the best and sometimes, the worst in them. Nikhil Agarwal Madhavan works in an international firm and is a conscious citizen. He believes in saving the environment and does his bit by asking road-side vendors not to use plastic bags. He believes in non-pollution and so prefers to commute by train. MadhavanOn the evening of July 11, 2006, while waiting for the train, a friend forces him to accompany him in the second class compartment. A few minutes later the first class compartment explodes. The aftereffects are devastating. One, it causes Suresh Menon , an unemployed anti-Muslim to hate the Muslims even more. Two, it shatters the calm of seasoned constable Tukaram Patil s Rawal life. Due for retirement in a week s time, he uses humour to battle his failures. Three, it throws a spanner in Sunil Kadam s Vijay Maurya plans. Kadam has just begun his career with the department and has a constant feeling of being an insignificant part of the system. Because of the blasts, his honeymoon gets cancelled. Four, Thomas Irrfan , a roadside coffee/tea vendor, who roams the streets of Mumbai astride his bicycle at night, is happy with the meagre amount he struggles to earn every week but is hurt by the attitude of the city. Though the bomb blasts hasn t personally affected him, he realises that the incident has brought distress to others higher up in the social strata. Taking advantage of this situation, he finds a way to strike back at the society which refuses to accept him as a part of it. And last but not the least, the blasts put television reporter Rupali Joshi s Soha strong values on freedom of expression and the importance of the fourth estate, to the test. Thus, the movie moves away from all the generalised political and academic debates surrounding terrorism as a concept and follows a more documentary approach by depicting the violence of individual trauma generated in the lives of common individuals. Directed by Nishikant Kamat of Dombvili Fast fame and produced by Ronnie Screwala, Mumbai Meri Jaan has some superb camera work. Though the film is more like a documentary, it is sure to kindle the agony in the minds of the victims and their families. Music by Sameer Phaterpekaris very apt and conveys the terror convincingly. Paresh, for the first time, grew a moustache just for the role of a police officer on the verge of retirement. To give the look that the director wanted, Paresh Rawal even lost 15 kilos. Of the cast, Irrfan s performance is the best. Though he has very little dialogue, he still manages to impress the audience. The actual fear comes across and the impact of the blasts is felt in the theatre, which makes you feel as though you were present at the spot.
It s a dark look at human nature with a hint of hope that humans need. Awesome portrayal of detailed characters. Unfortunately, pace is slow enough to make it tiresome by the end. he city has an indescribable energy that sweeps me with it whenever I m there. Mumbai Meri Jaan, however, is about various characters who don t necessarily have such a romanticized view of Mumbai. Each of them goes through a phase of cynicism and ultimately accepts their situation as is and joins the spirit of the city. It s a study of characters. Each character is interesting, even if not completely convincing. The combination of characters chosen is fascinating. The resistance to have extreme characters is obvious. Instead, a shade of gray is picked for each one and the variation in the grays, once in a while, defies believability. Yeah, it is also one possible interpretation of what might have been the state of mind of the citizens after the bomb blasts on July 11th, 2006. But, that seems secondary. The bomb blasts could very well have been replaced by any other traumatic event that Mumbai has gone through in the past few years. The focus is more on the social commentary on the economic disparity that the city suffers from, the corporatization of private lives by the media, the two sides of the youth wanting to migrate abroad, and so on.
Posted On : 4/3/2009 11:21:08 PM
Riya Sen [Guru] Reward Points : 93800 Member Since : Tuesday, December 16, 2008
This movie wonderfully depicts the aftermath of Mumbai blast in local train. The movie has touched all sections of people who are directly or indirectly affected by the blast. Through the character of Kay Kay Menon, it is shown how a layman like him starts hating people of a particular community blaming them to be the cause of the entire trauma. The charcter of Irrfan Khan, a chaiwala fights out to earn his livelihood. But when he is ignored by the society, he also targets all the people by spreading the rumour that bombs are implanted in the shopping malls. Soha Ali Khan sa character, who is a journalist, becomes herself the victim as her fiance is killed in the blast. She was so much traumatised that she had to leave her job. Then her channel tries to present her story as a news item and she feels lost and confident less. Nikhil Agarwal R. Madhavan works at an international software firm and is a conscious citizen, who believes in saving fossil fuels and the environment, and thus prefers to commute by local trains. On the evening of 11 July 2006 he boards the train at the usual hour of 6:00 p.m. for his hour long journey. 24 minutes later, the first class compartment is shattered by the first violent bomb explosion. Interestingly, he was unwillingly dragged into the second class compartment by an irritating guy who is trying to sell him a scheme, while his friend politely refused and preferred to go into first class. Madhavan s friend eventually loses his hand in the blast, while the unwilling move of going into the second class saves him. Constable Tukaram Patil Paresh Rawal , a seasoned cop due for retirement in a week, has never fired a single round in his career and uses humour to battle his personal failures. As a whole, it is a wonderful movie.
Mumbai Meri Jaan
