Mumbai Meri Jaan

Last weekend we saw the movie 'Mumbai Meri Jaan'. I think it may get all the awards for this year!! Best director for sure, storyline, and there will be a fight for the Best supporting title within the movie... I still can't decide if Paresh Rawal did well or Madhavan or Kay Kay Menon... Probably Paresh. Irrfan Khan finally has taken a different role than his usually 'monotonous monologue role' which sounds like a Vodafone commercial. This time he has chosen a role which will really challenge him. Soha Ali Khan is great... needless to say it runs in the family.

This is not a commercial masala film. No dream sequences, no item numbers. Shot more like a documentary but extremely gripping. The director Nishikant Kamath makes is Hindi-movie directorial debt and surpasses all standards and sets a new one. We should keep in mind though that he has won many national awards for this previous Marathi movie, 'Dombivili Fast'.

I don't want to tell you what the movie is about, besides the fact that its based on seven bomb blast that happened in Mumbai trains a couple of years ago. Shows you the ground reality and and its effects it has on people and their relatives... not a movie for a weak heart some scenes are really horrifying and morbid. Definitely a 'no-no' for kids. I guess it for grown ups... not just physically grown-up but also mentally evolved ones ;-) .

Shatters all our prejudices and preconceived notions that we have about life in general when a catastrophe happens. How we take everything for granted unless it happens to you. This movie will make a difference.... this is the only movie I have seen in an Indian theater where the whole crowd clapped at the of the movie and was silent during the end credits.

If you have no plans this weekend... go watch it. Worth every penny!! Siskel and Ebert would have given it 2 thumbs up. I give all my 10 fingers ;-))

I just watched this movie today. I have not gone in theater with some mind setup that I will see this and that, but in real meaning I was willing there a lot to see and director did the job fantastically. No errors there. He gone through the subject so intelligently that you cannot find a place where he slipped out of the main theme. Every moment and movement of the movie showing you the motive of the director of making this movie to hit on the right place of equality of different religions which is mainly Hindu Muslim.

The thing which I like the most is the bomb blast scene that made a huge impact on me as it is a short budget movie and they made i can say a shocking and horrifying scene there. This is i am talking in technical manner.

There were quite good emotional moments like hitting on media how badly they react to the situation and what happens when it came on to the people who are the part of the media (that made people clap in the theater). There were lot of places where people were clapping, that I can say was all for the director only as he is the one who handled the movie so brilliantly.

Overall, I must say this should be watched by every Hindu Muslim and others too, should be tax free soon that all get a bite of it. Anyways it is going to be in my DVD collection.

Excellent Work Nishikant

The great city of Mumbai got its song in 1956. It was written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, composed by O.P. Nayyar and sung by Mohd. Rafi and Geeta Bali - 'Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahan..' from the film CID. It took more than half a century since then for Mumbai to get its film. 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' is that film.

Nishikant Kamat (director) and Yogesh Joshi (writer) have created a brilliant film. It starts slow and cautious but the graph keeps on rising steadily throughout the duration of the film. 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' chronicles the few days before and after the Mumbai serial blasts of 2006 in the lives of 5 characters played by Kay Kay Menon, Soha Ali Khan, Irfan Khan, Paresh Rawal and Madhavan. That list has some of the very good actors in Hindi film industry today. None of then disappoint. Every one of them has got into the skin of their character, and be assured they are no simple characters.

The story is beautifully written. It gives space to all the characters. Each one is well defined. It captures their fears, failures, prejudices and agony flawlessly. It takes us from one character to the other and all the stories blend seamlessly. The editing is clean, though it could have been a little more stringent to cut the running length of the film a little.

Why Mumbai Meri Jaan really clicks is because it is about real people in a real world. The vast expanses that it covers in its limited premise is amazing. There is a Paresh Rawal who is reflecting at his 36 years as a policeman. When we hear him out completely it is difficult to decide whether he is a loser or winner. The wrinkles on his face, his gray hairs, his spectacle-aided vision - is there a better metaphor than himself for the city he lives in? There is a Madhavan who can get what he wants. He has the money to buy a car, has the opportunities to migrate to Europe or America. But should he? We don't really know at the end. It is for some reason that a tear drop sliding over his cheeks is the closing shot of the film. Kay Kay Menon and Irfan Khan are great actors. They have added dimensions to their characters which I doubt even the writer knew existed. The Soha Ali Khan segment takes a dig at the news channels of today. It is raises a lot of obvious questions.

Nishikant Kamat is a director to look out for. He uses various devices like close-ups, short quick cuts, looking upwards shots, silence, stills, jarring music, almost everything. But all are in moderation. So the end result looks plain and clean - possibly the most difficult thing to do in Hindi film industry today.

It was only befitting that the film end with the C.I.D song. A must watch.

How many time do you get to see movies which actually touch your heart not just once but through each and every character of the movie ? Well.. Mumbai Meri Jaan is one of those movies. The beauty of the movie is the realistic characters, realistic dialogs, good story, powerful acting, amazing direction, emotional climax and the message it conveys. This story starts from the day 7/11 when Mumbai serial blasts happened and ends after a week from that. The movie tells about the impact of the 7/11 bomb blasts on people's life, how it affected every character's life and finally how they manage to keep the 'Mumbai Spirit' alive. Excellent performances from Irfan Khan, KK, Soha Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal and Madhavan. A movie that truly deserves to be Tax-free and best movie of the year award. My personal second choice will be 'Aamir'. I salute the 'Mumbai Spirit'.

An outstanding creative work by UTV Motion Pictures depicting the true Spirit of Mumbai with shades of every aspect. KK, Madhavan, Irfan, Soha and Paresh Rawal were extravagant. All of them try tackling their issue on their own. And by the end of it, all of them move on in life. And that has been portrayed as the 'spirit of Mumbai'. Hence the name – "Mumbai Meri Jaan". The movie presents the difference in various point of views from which people looked at the incidence of Mumbai Train Blasts in July 2006. At one level, it shows how there are people who overcame the fear of bomb blasts and moved on in life as if nothing has changed. While there is another sect of people whose lives have forever been unsettled because of this incident.

In all, the movie deserves an A+, and is a must watch.