Mumbai Meri Jaan: Winner of a film
Gritty, humane, hard-hitting, touching, despite being on the edge of being preachy in spots towards the end. Quite clearly a winner with superb acting, confident direction and great technical quality. That’s Nishikant ‘Dombivli Fast’ Kamat’s first Hindi film Mumbai Meri Jaan (UTV Motion Pictures) is. The UTV stable, just months after a critically-acclaimed film – Amir (UTV Spotboy) – is back with yet another film that probes deep into the socio-political mindset of modern Indians. And like Amir, MMJ too is about Mumbai – as we all know by now, a take on how lives were impacted by the 11-07-2006 local train blasts in the city.
MMJ is gritty cinema for most parts, telling four parallel stories that are connected through the common thread of the blasts and that occasionally cross paths. Like Dombivli Fast, MMJ too is about the common man and his various shades, and how worlds change but human beings overcome hurdles, mental or physical.
The storyline of MMJ is quite simple actually – in one sentence, it is about four people whose lives change with the blasts. (see Anurag’s post http://passionforcinema.com/mumbai-meri-jaan-bravo/) . But Kamat has drawn excellent characters for his film, and his cast – Kay Kay Menon, Irrfan Khan, Paresh Rawal, R Madhavan, Vijay Maurya, Soha Ali Khan – have delivered him what he required. Irrfan, as the Tamilian streetside tea vendor, and Paresh Rawal, an about-to-retire policeman, are simply outstanding in a film full of competent acting.
MMJ fast builds up its mood, and the first half is simply breathtaking, to say the least. But the second half slackens a bit, as Kamat tries to analyse the nooks and corners of the minds of his protagonists. What lifts the film is the strength of each sub-plot, woven together by an excellent screenplay that leaves almost no loopholes, barring a few moments of almost-being-preachy, though Kamat pulls back at the right moment.
The film has a sound design that to a great extent follows the style of Dombivli Fast, and the cinematography is excellent. But what makes it really good cinema is its success in reflecting the mindsets of people in these days of suspicion and intolerance, and also its practical, realistic refrain when there was all the scope to go emotional a la something like Krantiveer.
MMJ is about human resilience in the face of adversity, and at the same time, a tribute to Mumbai’s tenacity to overcome every crisis. Another hoorah for small cinema with lot of meat, this MMJ is.
And yes, look out for the strong criticism of the way TRP-crazy news channels cover ‘news’ these days, reducing them almost to soap opera – with a warning to the journos: just think of a situation where you too might face the “aapko kaisa lag raha hai” type inane questions in extreme situations.
The Highpoints: the monologue by Paresh Rawal near the end which brings all the characters under a single perspective, and the excellent effects of the train blast scene soon after the beginning.
Intelligent cinema in all aspects and all respects. Support it, by watching it.
Filed Under
Movies, Mumbai Meri Jaan, People, Review
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surely watching it this weekend..have watched PHOONK & enjoyed it..now waiting to watch MMJ..this weekend couldnt have been better!
Thanks Utpal!
Counting hrs now… 23hrs for us on the west coast!
Thanks Utpal. Shall check it out when it releases in the Phoenix area.
Utpal..thanks…travelling to OC this weekend to watch MMJ…cant resist….
Ricky..can you send a review of Phoonk?
Missed yesterday due to work. Lekin aaj subah ka ticket nikaala hai. Cannot wait more !
kcp..plss watch and send a review yaar…plsssss…. missed you at iffla 2008..but plss you dont miss the review here..
watching it this weekend..
going to watch it this sunday!!!!! cant wait!!!!!
damn there’s only about two shows in each multiplex!!!!!!!!
watching today… expectations are scarily high!
@ Ricky : Is Phoonk scary as promised by RGV you mean? No update on this film till now on pfc hence apart from you mentioning it here. Hence asked…
I m goint to watch it this sunday …Booked my tickets already …
me & gang watchin’ it tonite (last show) @ PVR Bangalore.
tickets booked. hyper excited expecting another cinematic orgasm. cheers to good cinema.
om & arthi v,
i’m posting the review of phoonk which i had written in RGV v/s PFC face-off post..
hey guys,
for all of you who think RGV has lost it..well, i guess he has now found it..yes, with PHOONK!
was lucky enough to be at one of the screenings(courtesy a friend working with the man)& must admit its a well made film, well written, very well shot & believe it or not but it’s very emotional also! (RGV & emotions??)
the first half is taut & has it’s scary moments(one scene is superbly executed & will scare the shit out of you..that’s the RGV we all like)..the second half is very high on emotional content..one can easily connect to the family’s trauma as they deal with the unexplainable situation(black magic)in their own ways..
the casting is brilliant, the lines spoken very real & the perfomances are superb!
the lead actor(sudeep) is natural & the little girl(ahsaas channa) is just brilliant..rest of the cast - amruta khanwilkar, ganesh yadav, zakir hussain, lillette dubey,
k k raina, jyoti subhash & the little kid brother are good too..also the perfomances of shyam(site superviser),
laxmi(maid) & mani(driver) are noteworthy..perfect casting!
camerawork is excellent, editing & sound design is good..BGM is good too, but could have been better..
well, now talking of RGV’s direction, as i had mentioned in the begining..he has found it! really!!
i guess he finally searched it in the lost & found department in his head & got out PHOONK!
3 1/2* / 5*
P.S - had a few issues with the film, but dont want to spoil it for others..as you cant miss this one for sure..wish you’ll a partly scary & mostly emotional watch!
Unoubtedly one of the best movies ! Overall outstanding. Recommended to one and all. A decent response here in dubai ( for evening shows i.e )
*spoiler alert*
I ha only one shot in min which could have taken this movie to a different level ( sorry Nishikant for chhota munh badi baat ) - the last scene should have been Madhavan getting down on the platform, then a close up on his face, showing some kind of confidence , looking at the people proudly, depicting the real feeling “Mumbai meri jaan” I would have jumped in joy with this climax. Anyways I am waiting for the DVD rekease to really see this movie in details ( it is really one of the most detailed script that I have ever seen in world cinema )
kcp ,
pls put a spoiler alert
What an excellent film. Tremendously moving- masterclass performance by Paresh rawal.
I have not revealed a single bit Anand. Just go and get clean bowled ! Hats off to the team who made this mivie. Oscar material indeed !
Jahan , write a review plss ..
kcp,
i read ur comment till the part where u wrote “the last scene……”..so i thought better not to read rest of the comment….anyways thanks for putting spoiler alert ..
Bakshi saab, the jury of every award function,including the National awards, simply would not be able to decide who acted better. Stellar performances by “everyone” on the screen
Anand, the spoiler alert would have come from me only if I had written : “the last scene should have been so-an-so *instead of* so-and-so”. Also the cryptic clue I revealed does not say a bit about what “actually” happened in the movie.
kcp….now that i have read ur comment i know that….sorry for the mis-understanding…
Sorry can’t post review here due to website policy, but will post link as soon as it’s on NowRunning.com !
Kcp- yes, everyone was excellent, but Rawal stole the show for me- wow! What a pleasure to see him here…
Mind-blowing film guys. 5 minutes standing ovation @ PVR Bangalore last night. NK strikes gold. Don’t miss it for anything. The must-watch this weekend.
Great sreenplay, great direction and superb performances specially from Paresh Rawal and Vijay Maurya even Soha ali khan has given some gud shots:D. Till now movie of the year.
saw it yesterday.
simply mindblowing, never seen before such a good hindi movie.Paresh rawal and Vijay Maurya were the best.othres also did very fine job.
@Anand- Here’s my review:
http://jahansinghbakshi.blogspot.com/2008/08/review-mumbai-meri-jaan.html
According to me the guys who find this film preachy are the people who deserve the preach. its sad that they do not get the essence of the preaching ( I dont think there is any preaching in the movie BTW ) Sorry for being arrogant but its a fact as far as I am concerned.
@ kcp
bole to ekdum sacchi baat….
@Utpal
So it was tenacity and resiliance that you felt.
me felt different ,so yeah after a blast things appear to move on life returns back to normal for the majority for the one’s affected it is never the same this is deemed to be a sign of tenacity and resiliance and the city is known to have oodles of it.
You have Madhavan shaken up and cribbing,Paresh talking about the spirit of mumbai and cribbing he did not do anything in his service and you have people who want to applaud this as the spirit of Mumbai.
Paresh Rawal says something like “An observer without getting involved see the movie dont act in it”
I went back with the feeling that MMJ showed the Chaltai hai attitude of mumbaikaris to observe react but not participate or involve themselves with the city hence making them consumer’’s and cribster’’s rather than citizens.
Chaltai hai thou for me is not hope ,observing a system is not hope ,knowing what you do sucks and doing it is not hope ,redemption from guilt is not hope.