Mumbai Ko Dekhiye Meri Jaan
iView Author: Jehan Handa (New Delhi, India)
Email: jehanhanda580 [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] in
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Mumbai Ko Dekhiye Meri Jaan
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The promos intrigued me. They told me on the face, that there is a film you should go and watch, it does not need to have an Abhishek Bachchan or Salman Khan doing a guest appearance, it does not need to have Malaika Arora doing a sleazy item number, all it needs is a heart, something most of us seem to have lost, somewhere in today’s fast paced, cosmopolitan society, we seem to have lost that power to shed a tear at an emotional moment, or spark a laugh at life’s small pleasurable moments, all we find is instant entertainment, that dies down as the sun takes its rise the next morning. It was Mumbai Meri Jaan, sitting on a corner seat watching a bland hyped Bachna Ae Haseenon; I wondered if we still had such movies, we probably do. Even as Ranbir Kapoor, was dancing in scenic Europe, and embracing Deepika Padukone in the beautiful city of Venice, I still had two lines intriguing me.
“Mumbai Kya Hai, Kuch Saat Choti Sheharon Ka Milna, aur lo ban gaya Mumbai”
“Us din jab train mein blasts hoye, toh ek pal ke lia laga, kahin yeh phirse saat alag alag hisson mein bat jaayega”
Even as Bachna Ae Haseenon gladly ended, I still thought, what if those victims were my families, what if my family had traveled in that local train, and they were taken away from me, I went home with the thought, somewhere too young for something so deep, but after all it could happen to anybody, you, me or even Nishikant Kamat, the filmmaker.
It was too powerful, I had to watch it, it said August 22nd, a week away. I could wait, after all every thing comes with strings attached, a week would whip away quickly. I checked the release dates and it said that six films would release around that date. C kkompany, Hijack, My Friend Ganesha 2, Phoonk and some other shit film, accompanied by Mumbai Meri Jaan. I was sure people would mark it as a niche film, it didn’t matter,
“ Log Kahenge, Logon Ka Kaam Hai Kehna”
Rock On was stated to release a week later, and I called up Gattu Uncle, the director Abhishek Kapoor on Facebook, asking him whether he’s nervous with six films before his release, and he told me Hijack and C Kkompany had postponed, so no worries. Hmm I wondered, who cared about those crap films, and why doesn’t this man seem worried about Mumbai Meri Jaan.
My Story about finally watching Mumbai Meri Jaan seems interesting, I had to lie to my family saying that I would rather watch ‘Far North’ with my friends, honestly I didn’t give a rats ass, about what Far North was about. I wanted only Mumbai Meri Jaan. After all Khalid Mohamed sir says
“Paresh Rawal has not only belted out a world class performance, but also a textbook in acting”
I wondered what was in store with this movie, Khalid sir saying something commendable. Wow!
I went on the counter; the show said 3:25. I said 4 tickets Ma’am. The woman replied
“Sorry Sir, only two tickets”
“Yeah, that should be ok”
What would happen to the rest two, a normal person would think, I had to watch it, May God come and tell me not to, I wouldn’t budge. But I would ditch my friends either. I went in with two tickets, sent my other friend, got them in also, I cheated. But everything’s fair in movies with me. Now two of us sat on seats, the other two on the floor, it was worth it, sitting on the floor with popcorn and watching Paresh Rawal belt out an amazing performance, watching Vijay Maurya excel in every scene, and watching how simple stories can affect you so badly, and how lavish dramas can do nothing. Soha Ali Khan breaking down at the morgue with such ease and Kay Kay Menon doing a lovable performance as the Muslim hater, the actor makes the role look so real. We all could relate to every character. All characters have worn the mask of reality.
Based on the Mumbai serial train blasts in 11th July, 2006, that triggered terror among the Mumbai inhabitants, Mumbai Meri Jaan is a brilliant portrayal of how things are, instead of how things ought to be, at the time of crisis. . Mumbai Meri Jaan looks at the common tragedy, but diversifies into five different stories at the very start itself. The story about an unemployed computer executive, who dislikes Islam (Kay Kay Menon), a well off executive who dislikes the comforts of life and prefers to travel by local train (Madhavan), a quintessential representative of the malicious media (Soha Ali Khan) and an aging constable on the verge of retirement, who regrets that in his 36 year long service he did not do anything worthwhile (Paresh Rawal). The story about how a bomb blast can change several innocent lives, without directly being affected. Words are too mild to convey the beautiful smile of Mona Lisa, or the evergreen Dev Anand, or the glory of the Taj on a full moon light, or the never say die attitude of Zohra Sehgal, and now the depth of Mumbai Meri Jaan. The film seems like soft sunshine after a heavy dose of rainfall. It catches the vibrations of the horrifying 7/11 event brilliantly. It is an X-ray of human emotions, a document of wounded feelings wet with tears and taut with tension and trauma.
We all know the unforgettable incident in Mumbai, it shook everyone, and Mumbai residents still have goose bumps remembering the nightmarish incident, and this Nishikant Kamat venture impresses every reel, every scene. Every frame of this movie reflects the fragrance of Nishikant Kamat’s penance. The background score is average, though the snippet of a song is quite an attraction, sad not to find it anywhere on sale. But the song ‘Bombay Meri Jaan’, It makes a beautiful impact in the end, urging me to go home and download the almost 50 years old song, it can still amaze you no end. Mumbai Meri Jaan also boasts of excellent cinematography. The editing is laser-sharp, cutting back and forth between the several storylines in a manner that is coherent and yet paces the film well.
The dialogues excel at every point, the film may seem preachy to some, but the way the actors perform here is outstanding, the performances are simply spell bounding.
Paresh Rawal, Kay Kay Menon, Irfaan Khan and Soha Ali Khan belt out truly amazing performances, whereas Madhavan also looks competent, though his story doesn’t gel that well, but every performance is incredible, including Vijay Maurya.
The way the reporter Rupali, is being treated as ‘Rupali Bani Rudali’ seems amazingly real, and makes you laugh at life, the way it works. It is handled with sensitivity and equal '©lan. . See the look on her face when she receives the delivery of her marriage card which was never to take place. Irfaan Khan is superbly intense, see him when he hates the fragrance of that perfume, watch the way he loathes it, outstanding. . When he realizes the way to derive sadistic pleasure by harassing his tormentors at the mall is just by pressing a few buttons, his sudden change in body language is commendable. Paresh Rawal makes you cry in the climax situation, makes you think how he can make you laugh without looking like a fool, makes you moist eyed. Then Kay Kay Menon amazes you yet again, the way the music is playing
“Kar Chale Hum Fida”
And he has to say “Yeh Saale Rafi hi sunenge, kishore nai sun sakte”. It beautifully sums up his disgust for the minority community. The climax is well handled, seems a bit odd in the end, but aah better than the Tashans and Singhs is Kings, it makes you mope.
All I can say now is that anything can happen to us anytime, go watch Mumbai Meri Jaan, a hard hitting, a beautiful, a painstakingly lovable film.
Do yourself a favor, catch a DVD, or on television, go to the theater, but don’t miss it, especially those who swear by meaningful cinema, after all movies are not about watching SRK and sex.
Tags: Irrfan kahn, Kay Kay Menon, Nishikant Kamat, Paresh Rawal
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Jehan, great post, truly one of the excellent movies of this year. Performances, taking, screenplay, characterization everything just falls into place, though i felt some of the resolutions were a bit forced. Among performances loved those of Paresh Rawal, Vijay Maurya, Irfaan Khan and Kay Kay Menon the best. It is really great to see Paresh in full form, after watching him in all those mindless Priyadarshan stuff.
Thank You So much Ratnakar, yeah i agree, il try and keep your suggestions in mind
I’m ashamed to admit this, but as the film didn’t get a U.K release, I ‘had’ to watch the pirated copy of this film.
But, but, but, I am going to buy the original dvd once it releases.
Chalo, confession khatam!
The film? Absolutely beautiful!
Watched it thrice, back to back.
A really fascinating movie.
What wonderful performance and intriguing characters.
Its a DAMN GOOD movie, and i’m going to make EVERYONE I know watch it, once I get hold of the original dvd.
Loved it.
Madhvan?
He was Exceptional!
(I hope this does’nt offend any one, this is on an absolute serious note)
yesterday I was watching aaj tak and they were running a story on Soumya(RIP)(the lady journo murdered in Delhi)… I was amazed by the similarity between the story of Rupali and the subsequent TV caricature in the film MMJ with this episode about Soumya. It was painful,tragic and infuriating to watch. There have been very few hindi film capturing reality like that and MMJ is definitely one of them.
I agree with you guys,thanks for your response
Amazingly written Jehan….I swear I just have to watch this movie now…..I haven’t seen it yet bt after what all u’ve written I have to see it…And I totally agree with you how today people have gotten this intention that movies are only for entertainment…but movies like these give us a different persepective..!!!!
I haven’t seen the movie… but after reading this, I really think I should. Really good review, Jehan. =)
Very well written, Jehan. This movie has proved that movies don’t need big stars to be good and has surpassed many bollywood cliches. Easily the best release of the year and I must say that I enjoyed your article. I look forward to reading more from you.
Keep Writing!
Superb article.I remember after watchin Crash and saying to my friends that such an amazing movie will can be made in Bollywood.I guess i was wrong.MMJ comes closest when it comes to producing the powerful effect that Crash had on me.
I really hope that the producer has recovered his money, if not make a small profit so that more and more people will be encouraged to finance such wonderful projects in the future.
Good Debut Jehan…
Vijay Maurya was a revealation..hope we get to see more of him….what superb chemistry between him and Paresh
Thank Youu Guuys..=)
Thanks Priyanka,Angad,Vanshaya, Raunak and OM
I hope you guys like my next article.