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.....

Music can play miracles for a movie. And when a film with as powerful musical score as Sur's hits the silver screen, one is definitely feel escalated. Tanuja Chandra's fourth directorial venture Sur falls short in creating the magic that could match its own soulful songs composed by Kreem.

The story revolves around a famous middle-aged singer Vikramaditya Singh (Lucky Ali) who is looking for a prodigy who would inherit his musical expertise and talent. His search takes him to Tina Marie (Gauri Karnik). He spots her when she is busy singing in a choir in a hamlet. Vikram is mesmerized by her rendition and he resolves to take her along to his musical institution so as to craft her skills and make her a star. Tina's elder sister Rita (Divya Dutta) happily grants permission to send her with Vikram and soon, they are on their way to Ooty.

In Ooty, Tina begins learning music with some twenty students at Vikram's Sur- The music school. Yes, music that is what one is supposed to believe that the students learn, though we see them fooling around pulling each others legs, dancing and sightseeing all the while. What's more, Vikram's school teaches more than a dozen things to students instead of taking them one after one. There's one Divya (Simone Singh) who also acts as a teacher in the school but you'll never find her taking her job in the right perceptive. Tina doesn't know how to read musical notes and play violin. While everyone in the school is skeptical about her, Vikram keeps yelling that Tina will soon learn everything. And soon, you see her delivering gentle notes on violin and creating wonderful tunes one after another. Believe Tanuja, who assures you that Tina is a god gifted musical genius.

So, her music is praised by everyone at the school. Vikram suddenly experiences pang of jealousy as he cannot bear being surpassed by his own student. He tries to overpower Tina by breaking her morale. In one desperation move, he goes to the extent of stealing her melody and releasing it under his name. Shocked and heartbroken Tina leaves Ooty.

Soon Vikram's album is out and the stolen melody is a huge success. But gradually Vikram is confronted by his conscience that compels him to go and get back Tina, to rectify his misdoings. How Vikram succeeds in bringing back music in Tina's life and making her a star forms the rest of the story.

Sur's pace is too slow and few situations seem surreal. Take a few examples like the scene where Tina and Rita quarrel on Tina's going to Ooty by playing a tug-of-war with the suitcase is silly. Then there is a scene where Tina comes screaming, rustling and bustling to show Vikram the world's best melody she has created and ends up playing a cacophony. After this disappointment, she suddenly modifies into a musical genius but how? One will find it hard to digest. The sudden transformation of Vikram from gentle and selfless person into a mean and ambitious whacko for no good reason is also unexplainable. What surprises even more is that Divya makes him as well as us realize that Tina loves Vikram and vice-versa. And you must trust Tanuja because she believes, like all Bollywood creators, that a Hindi movie cannot end without having love track.

The film leaves some impact with simple yet impressive production value. Tanuja's shot taking is also remarkable at places. Cinematography by Nirmal Jani is eye-catching, especially of Ooty. For, without his efforts, it would have been too boring to see umpteenth time seen Ooty to see again. Editing by Hemanti Sarkar could have been crispier. VIBHA SINGH's dialogues go well with situations, especially in the first half. M.M. Kreem's music is the essence of Sur. Almost all the songs of are melodious. Nida Fazli's lyrics contribute to their best to Kreem's efforts.

On the performance front, Lucky Ali is not bad at all. With his intense eyes and different mannerism, he leaves his mark. Given a good director and a better script, he will certainly grow as an actor. But he needs to work on his dialogue delivering skills as they seem to carry a slight accent. Frizzy haired Gauri Karnik makes a reasonable debut. Simone Singh and Achint Kaur are competent. Others lend able support.

On the whole, Sur is a film with excellent music and mediocre script. Though Tanuja Chandra has succeeded once again in selecting a good subject, she fails to do justice to the same. See this film if its songs have made their place in your mind or else, say sayonara and you are going to lose nothing.

I am still in awe of the realism and heart-touching emotions portrayed in this movie! Absolutely stunning! Lucky Ali portrayed the restless music teacher with more than just a tinge of jealousy in him to perfection. Gauri was great, reminding me of a Kajol/Kangana hybrid with great emoting and acting ability. I am a teacher myself, and the final few dialogues from Ali regarding teachers being kingmakers, and not kings themselves, hit home pretty succinctly. I had tears well up in my eyes at various points throughout the movie, and the portrayal of frail human emotions and insecurities was beautifully done. The music is soul- touching and melodious. Who can forget the timeless classic' Aa Bhi Ja" from Lucky Ali and the female singer? A Must-watch!

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!

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.