Summer 2007

Kudos to script writer and director for this gr8 and worthy endeavor. I started the movie with no expectation, but ended it with heavy hearted and droplets in my eyes. The movie never came into the limelight and reason probably being the serious message and no songs around trees. Movies with big guns are selling like hot cakes in India, but such movies with a off beat script and comparatively low star cast never get attention. The movie is based on the miserable life of farmers in an Maharastra Village. Farmers are hand to mouth and indebted to Some Jamidar, who is a cruel and heartless man. His son exploits farmers and rapes their wives, assault them brutally and kills them at time. Five funky ERP (Extra Rich People) students from some medical college unintentionally becomes part of all this. The movie draws a very sensitive topic of suicides of farmers in India in pretty nice and logical style. All actors did their bit quite nicely and Ashutosh Rana was commendably gr8. Over all transformation of movie from fun life in college to the reality ground in some village is surly an eye opener. I recommend the movie to all for the message in the movie.

Director Suhail Tatari's Summer 2007 is a monstrously long picture that may have had an interesting germ of an idea, but it's so loosely written and so poorly directed that in the end it just reminds you of what detention felt like in school. There's one big problem with this film and that problem is, you don't know exactly what this film is about. Summer 2007 is Grey's Anatomy-meets-American Pie-meets-Rang De Basanti — you see what I mean? Is it a youthful comedy, a doctor drama, or a socially relevant message movie? Well, all of the above. A sort of khichdi of many things, and not a particularly delicious khichdi, I might add. Sikander Kher, Arjun Bajwa, Alekh Sangal, Gul Panag and Ulvika Chaudhary play a group of friends attending final year at a Mumbai medical college. Only thing, you never really see them 'attending' college — they're the sort of chaps who seem to spend all their time hanging out in the canteen, or partying outside — rich kids who'd rather get stoned on weekends, or pick on others who do want to do something with their lives. When they land up in a small village in central Maharashtra on a rural training project, they don't intend to stay long, but little do they realise that they're going to get sucked into the whirlpool of crime and injustice that seems to have taken over the lives of the locals there. Summer 2007 suffers due to over-writing, by which I mean the film is trying to pack in too many things all at once. Farmers' suicides, lack of medical facilities in rural India, crimes committed by moneylenders, and the general apathy of the urban youth. As a result the film lacks any real focus and seems to be going in too many different directions. The acting's pretty pathetic and the catharsis you're supposed to believe the protagonists have gone through comes across as fake. As far as I'm concerned, this film just didn't work for me. So that's one out of five for director Suhail Tatari's Summer 2007. Let's talk again in the summer after 2008 and perhaps by then we'll all have figured out exactly what was the purpose of this complicated film!

Although the Government of India projects a 9% growth, this progress is not spread evenly all over the country.

Since 1997, according to the Government's very own statistics, a total of 1,50,000 farmers and their respective families have committed suicide as they are unable to survive and repay loans to Zamindars.

Out of these 1,50,000, 20% of the above deaths are recorded in the state of Maharashtra.

During 2006, the Government did act and made provisions to forgive loans - but limited such forgivable loans to banking institutes only - and did not provide any relief to struggling farmers all over the country.

Corrupt and indolent police and politicians compound this issue even more by refusing to intervene against goons of Zamindars, leaving the hapless farmers to fend for themselves.

And when they are unable to do so - they end up killing themselves.

The media is supposed to the conscience of the people, but are mainly focused on urban issues, including Bollywood and politics, thus compounding the problem even more.

It is an unfortunate reality that the plight of these farmers remains unresolved to date.

With a title like 'Summer 2007', I was expecting a typical coming-of-age film of the 'Dil Chahta Hai'/'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' sort but what I got was a surprise, a mostly pleasant surprise. I'm actually glad at how the misleading the title stays true to the film. 'Summer 2007' opens with a man setting himself on fire in the middle of a crop field. This is followed by three pot-smoking guys discussing nothing. Then, we are introduced to a hospital and learn that the three guys and two pretty women are med-students. The hospital drama reminds one of 'Grey's Anatomy' but after this sequence is over, it takes quite an unexpected turn that refers back to the opening sequence. The 4 frivolous students ask for a transfer (to attend rural service) in order to escape the school politics. With the expectation of enjoying the title summer in Goa, they insist on a placement nearby. Only the fifth student is determined to make a difference.

Debutant director Sohail Tatari deserves credit for tackling a relevant, less talked about issue. He grabs the viewer's attention with the opening sequence and then cleverly introduces the five protagonists. The characters are fleshed out. During the first hour, Tatari spends quite some time for the audience to get to know the characters. All five are of distinct personalities: Rahul (Sikander Kher) is the 'head' of the group. Qateel (Arjan Bajwa) is a flirt who doesn't take anything seriously. Bagani (Alekh Sangal) is the horny one who desperately (but not too desperate) wants to get laid. Priyanka (Uvika Chaudhary) is sort of a bimbo with a heart. Vishakha aka Mother T (Gul Panag) is the down-to-earth girl with a mission, she's the conscience of the group.

In the second hour, Tatari introduces the village. It is quite well presented and even though it is extremely poverty stricken, unlike the clichéd 'Gaon', here the villagers are indifferent towards the 'visitors'. They're not enthusiastic. They've seen too much and are too frightened to care. Then there's the village doctor who could care less about their arrival but he too has his needs and takes advantage of the situation.

The film boasts of some very good performances but the lead man Sikander Kher does not impress. He seems too confused and he appears to experience great difficulty expressing Rahul's ambivalence. The three newcomers, Arjan Bajwa, Alekh Sangal and Uvika Chaudhary do a much better job. Vikram Gokhale springs a surprise in a new avatar. Prashant Narayanan is suitably menacing. Sachin Khedekar leaves a strong mark. However, it is Gul Panag and Ashutosh Rana who deliver the best. It's been a while since I've seen Rana perform so well and what a great 'comeback'. Panag seems to be making the right choice ever since the critically acclaimed 'Dor' and here she is simply outstanding.

'Summer 2007' isn't without its share of flaws. Some scenes really drag on. Also the songs were totally unnecessary and the first one is quite awful.

Overall, this film is very much worth watching. Tatari bravely presents an issue that one has only read in the newspaper or heard on the news channel and immediately forgotten thereafter. He does not throw the message in your face nor does he preach to us about solutions. He only shows us the situation as they are and how the fate of five medical students is affected by it. With 'Summer 2007' one can at least dedicate a few hours to these hard-working people just by understanding their pain and feeling for them.