There have been numerous movies made on the cause of terrorism and about the groups behind the brutal, inhuman acts. But here comes a film, which emphasizes on the impact of these happenings instead, on people from different walks of life, rich and poor, brave and strong, young and old. And the sensitivity with which the consequences have been captured by the director is indeed commendable. Nishikant Kamat's first Hindi venture is a praise worthy effort, which shows you the aftermath of Mumbai Train Blasts and amazes you with its two hours of narration making an instant connect.
Giving you the gist of its basic structure, there is a new trend catching up fast with the filmmakers in Indian Cinema, wherein in they take up 5-6 stories together and then present them merging into each other from different angles focusing on some lead characters. Naseeruddin Shah recently tried this in his debut directorial venture, then Anurag successfully adapted this in his METRO and you may recall many more movies made in the recent times with the same multi-plot structure.
However MUMBAI MERI JAAN stands apart from these all both in quality and content. There are moments in the movie which are so real that the viewer gets easily pulled in feeling the emotional depth. And then the script has some specific sequences which express exactly as you might have also thought while watching the coverage of tragedies and their victims on loud news channels in your secured homes.
For instance, the story of Soha Ali Khan, which thoughtfully showcases the psyche of unconcerned reporters and greedy news portals, wherein they simply want to encash every new tragedy and mis-happening through their transmissoin. In fact at times, you must have also thought that how a reporter can ask such question to a person, who has just lost one of his beloveds or the entire family and how on earth they can go on asking “How are you feeling?”. It’s simply inhuman to shamelessly ask such absurd questions to the victims just after a few hours of the tragedy. This big question is answered in the film, when as a twist the reporter Soha herself becomes the victim, losing her fiancé in the blasts and then another reporter immediately asks her all similar questions. That’s a brilliantly executed sequence with the emotional feel, depth and relevance rarely found in our films.
Among the best performances of the film, we have Paresh Rawal, delivering one of his finest acts as a police constable retiring in few days. He is assisted by the new entrant Vijay Maurya and both emote and perform as two real life characters on street dealing with the tough conditions. The duo superbly display the pain and discomfort caused by the faulty, courupt system in their own different ways and remain the key attraction of the film without any slightest of doubt.
Madhavan can be seen in his best ever cameo in a Hindi movie and people who may not be his fans, would really find it hard to ignore his performance as a seriously disturbed person who was there in the train but somehow survived and didn't get hurt. As a matter of fact, many would have certainly faced the same trauma in days after the blasts, who were there in the trains at that particular time period.
The other two masters Irfan Khan & KK are yet again in their form proving why they are considered the best among the present younger generation. Irfan Khan is a treat to watch as a poor person, who is thrown out of a Mall and then decides to take the revenge in his own unique way. KK gives a unforgettable performance as a strong person helping the blasts victims to reach hospital in time. The way he finds hard to trust any other person post the blasts and how he gets transformed has been canned impeccably.
Though the movie has its loose ends and it also has a typical Mumbai ambience which might be difficult to relate to for a section of viewers, it still should not be missed at any cost and you got to see at the earliest, if you love this medium of expression and the meaningful cinema.
Together the film's writing, execution and performances by Paresh Rawal, Irfan Khan, KK, Madhavan & Soha Ali Khan make MUMBAI MERI JAAN a worth watching venture for every Indian living within the country or abroad and it also gets added to BTCs MOVIES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE as here we thankfully have a must watch Hindi mainstream film after a long time.
Rating : 4.5 / 5
(Update : The film can now be seen at Netflix for a subscription and on Youtube at a nominal one time price)
