Sur: The Melody of Life

Protagonist - Antagonist. Lucky Ali plays both, swinging from one to the other with subtlety. Is this some typical Bollywood (hate that term....) "hero" - "anti hero" spiel? On the contrary, this is a rather sensitive portrayal of human self deception. Lucky Ali, on his self serving "humble" quest to share his musical knowledge and talent with an aspiring singer before his retirement from the world of music, unwittingly takes on a protégée whose talents, even in their most raw form, surpass his own. The film then bares the darkness prevalent in every human psyche (even if it is the most accomplished artiste) , when the teacher struggles to beat his own student, failing at every attempt and yet learning some very valuable lessons along the way.

This film has the "feel" of a low budget movie. But once you get over that, this film is definitely a good watch. Go right ahead and watch it.....

Tanuja Chandra is back after showing her directorial skills in Dushman and Sangharsh, this time she chooses a more original topic... that of a teacher and a student and how the student's success makes the teacher jealous.

Lucky Ali, as the music teacher gives a power-packed polished performance... but hey after all he's Mahmood's son Gauri Karnik is another performance to watch out for... all the people: Simone Singh, Achint Kaur, Ehsan Khan, Harsh Vasisht and Divya Dutta give excellent performances.

The movie just touches your heart and you can't help but watch it again.

60% of the movie's credit goes to the genius composer, M.M. Kreem (Zakhm, Jism, Criminal) who yet again delivers... and what compositions! All the tracks are brilliant with "Aa Bhi Jaa" needing special mention...

Overall a film you must experience.... Simple and straight from the heart!

If there is heaven on Earth, it must be Ooty,or Ootacamund, a hill station close to Bangalore considered the Air-conditioned City. Raj Kapoor, shot the picnic scene and the song "Oh Mehbooba-Oh Mehbooba" with the threesome in the dew-filled lake, forty-long years ago. Recently one of the recent best thriller "Raaz" was shot there. Now comes "Sur" where the beauty of this enchanting land is caught in Eastman colour. The CD is a must for collectors of film music since Maestro Kreem, has composed one of the best duets (Aabhi-Ja) from a Hindi film after "Barsaat"(Ye Raat Beeghi Beeghi) and "Hum Dono" (Abhi Na Jaao) This movie has a feeling of "Sound of Music" to it mainly because of the location, Cinematography and the Music. The new entrant has a long way to go achieve Stardom. Where as Lucky Ali though impressive is better off keeping his day job as a Singer and Composer.The direction of Tanuja Chandra is choppy and wanting at times, but I feel her real flaw was in the Casting. She needs some Casting lessons from Aparna Sen "Mr&Mrs Iyer". I enjoyed this movie even though this was considered a flop commercially, I will look forward to Tanuja Chandra's future endeavors since anyone who has a keen taste in music and trust in Musical Director in the caliber of M.M. Kreem cannot be written off easy.

I believe this movie is highly unappreciated. I am surprised that I did not watch this movie until recently. It indicates that this is a movie that lost on audiences for lack of enough advertising. This movie might not be for typical Indian audiences but it is a trend breaker in Bollywood. Certainly it is bound to be unappreciated by someone who is looking for a superficial Bollywood flick with lots of dancing around trees, tons of tears, ... 'Sur' is a great thematic movie which touches on and well deals with the subject of the role of a teacher and the complexities involved when a student outsmarts him. Lucky Ali is great in the movie as the prime actor and the singer. Other actors are also average. M.M. Kareem has established himself as the most talented music director in Indian cinema by providing glittering notes and tunes yet once again. Kudos to Tanuja Chandra for the movie!

"Sur" is the story of a famous musician who looks for a successor and finds one in a young girl who sings like an angel. I've read a lot of good reviews about the movie and how it is a "different sort" of Bollywood movie. Well, that might be true, but I still didn't find it particularly gripping.

Don't get me wrong, I thought it had nice music, very good actors and an acceptable running time. It was really enjoyable. But nothing spectacular. First of all, its direction is average. The director used a lot of filters which make the film look like a soft porn movie from the late 70's / early 80's. Those filters are utterly useless in this movie. The visuals undermine the sincerity of the plot. There was only one scene that I thought was well lit and filmed, and that was Lucky Alis first big song number where he sings on a boat. The rest was mediocre at best.

Also, the plot is far from revolutionary. The approach to the love story (if you want to call it that) might be unusual, but come on - if that's a revolution in Bollywood cinema, I will be happy with the pre-revolution situation. Till then, I'm waiting for the next one. Might that be a true one. "Sur" - rating:

7/10