Thursday, August 28, 2008

Mumbai Meri Jaan

"ऐ दिल है मुश्किल जीना यहाँ ..... ज़रा हट के ज़रा बच के यह है बॉम्बे मेरी जान...." went the last track of this movie Mumbai Meri Jaan.... Quite an impressive attempt by the director. I wonder if it would not also have been pertinent if the director would also have added the following stanza from the same song " ऐ दिल है आसां जीना यहाँ, सुनो बंधू सुनो मिस्टर यह है बॉम्बे मेरी जान"
I do not want to rate this movie. I have always had a bias in favour of those movies that are off-beat and this movie I believe was precisely that, else the hall would have been running a houseful . Two characters which I felt very moving were that of the News reporter (Soha Ali) and the high-paid desh bhakt professional (R Madhavan). May be Kay Kay Menon, Irrfan Khan and Paresh Rawals' characters could also have been made more powerful if the movie was of a smaller duration. Nevertheless, if nothing else, the movie does leave you more observant of your surroundings.

Today morning while travelling I noticed a Police constable talking to a private taxi driver. then the driver digged out something from his pocket, possibly his licence and what would have entailed thenafter is something that we all can guess. I have not picked up today's newspaper yet and am sure it would also have something that I could relate with the movie. Guess it is the effect of the late-night show... by the time the day passes by, I would soon be back to my normal self.

What I find quite amusing here is that the movie in itself is a big paradox. The movie sort of portrays media in a bad light. I may sound a bit outrageous if I call today's reporting as Journalistic Voyeurism but that is what today's news channels are. the are the biggest possible reality shows. If we look at it from another angle, even this movie was supposed to "entertain" us by portraying what would have been the plight of the bomb blast victims. Never-the-less, I rate it as an honest effort from the director to portray life's realities.

The final note from me on this:
After the movie had its "The End" (sadly, they don't have this appearing anymore as the movie ends) a friend of mine quite pertinently noticed that why is this movie "Mumbai" meri jaan. Had it been Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Banagalore for for that matter Bhubaneswar the meaning would not have changed. I guess this is a movie about India. That Indian spirit which has kept us going for generations..... this again reminds me of a couplet from Iqbal
"यूनान मिस्र रोमा, सब मिट गए जहाँ से, बाकी मगर है अब तक नामो निशाँ हमारा... कुछ बात है वह हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी... "

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