Majid Majidi has always conveyed the truth about what's happening in society through his films. He takes a harsh look at the lives of the common people and strives to find beauty beneath the grime. He tells you that the man on the street, someone most of us don't look upon twice, too has a story to tell, if we are willing to listen. It will be a story both bitter and sweet, containing both tears and laughter. And if we're willing look closely, it will be no different than ours in microsom. It might not have a happy ending -- life seldom does, neither would it be an escapist fare -- but will surely let you escape into another world.
Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone though. It's the duty of artist to familiarise the unfamiliar and that's what Majidi has done here. He's presented us a Mumbai which isn't inhibited by folks living in high rises but living in slums. They don't have the coolest jobs in the world but work as drug couriers and prostitutes. They don't buy clothes from fancy malls but from the streets. They don't dream much, perhaps they have forgotten how to dream. For them, surviving the day is reward enough. Some people may argue that instead of showing the face of India Shining he's gone to the dark corners where the light has yet to come. But it's such dark corners that actually need to be in the arc lights. So the better half knows how the bitter half lives.
Amir (Ishaan Khatter) is a young man who knows the bylanes of Mumbai like the back of his hands and it's this quality that makes him a successful drug runner. Once, while escaping the police, he runs into his estranged sister Taara (Malavika Mohanan), who works in a laundry. Her boss Akshi (Goutam Ghose) helps hide him. Akshi however lusts after Taara and one day tries to rape her. She wounds him on the head in self defense and is jailed for that. Though the brother and sister haven't been together for years, their bond deepens because of the tragedy. Amir finds that he does have empathy in his heart for others and Taara, who has been living with the guilt of abandoning her brother, finds closure in jail looking after the small child of a sick inmate...
Anil Mehta is the tried and tested hand behind the camera and has made the seamier side of Mumbai come alive through his camerawork. The docks, the chawls, the den of the prostitutes or the dhobi ghat come alive in the film. You feel you're strolling in those places, watching them with your own eyes. The claustrophobia inducing hospital rooms or the jail cells too are captured in all their grim ambience. Majidi isn't working with his usual team here but he has managed to extract the best from everyone, be it the art director or the team in charge of the costumes or the sound editing department. AR Rahman's background score isn't intrusive but subtly adds to the proceedings.
Majidi has made the film in Mumbai, the Mecca of Hindi cinema and hasn't been able to escape the influence of Bollywood entirely. There are a couple of scenes -- one where Ishaan dances on top of a car or where he jives to Rahman's Muqabla Muqabla, like Michael Jackson, where that influence is most prominent. The scene where he threatens Goutam Ghose initially is straight out of a Bollywood film and the obsession of looking at the moon is derived from our films too. The Hindi dialogue are written by Vishal Bhardwaj who does a competent enough job.
The first half of the film is spent mostly in setting up the story and the characters. You can sense Majidi is struggling to come to terms with a different milieu, a different set up. His writing and direction both find surer footing in the second half. The situation for both the sister and the brother looks hopeless but through small sketches, Majidi shows that there are no totally hopeless situations. That even half a candle is enough to dissipate darkness. He's been able to extricate deft performances from all his actors. Malavika Mohanan is a natural in front of the camera. The pain, the anguish of losing her brother all over again is visible in her eyes. The scene where she loses control on jail is a powerful piece of performance. Ishaan Khatter is a find. He might have acted in a realistic film but he has nevertheless shown he's the perfect commercial material. He's still a little raw round the edges, like in a couple of scenes he goes OTT where a little more restraint would have gotten more dramatic effect. But overall his confidence is amazing. He gives you the vibes of a young Kamal Hassan -- bursting with both intensity and talent and eager to showcase it to the world...
Anupamaa
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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