Sur: The Melody of Life

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.

"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

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!

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!

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.....