The Blue Umbrella : Film Review
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The Blue Umbrella is a simmering gem from Vishal Bharadwaj. The film takes the Makdee ploy further and gives contemporary multiplex cinema its first engrossing Indian fairy tale. Though I would like to stay away from the classifications, as when it is Vishal in the director’s seat, you would be fooling yourself by placing the film in a genre. I would not want to rob his creations of their richness by doing that.
Given its kiddo appeal, the film goes deeper into the psyche of a fantasy woven into a realistic fervor. An overwhelmingly successful example in recent times of this genre is the seminal Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillerimo del Torro. Though comparisons would be senseless as both the films are very different in their execution and production standards(the latter being a cross between a historical, a monster film, and an emotional journey and impressions of a young girl torn between the harsh realities of war and her own tainted imaginary Wonderland), and if I might use the term, simplicity.
Blue Umbrella is an ode to the innocent faced fables of Doordarshan days. Add to it Vishal’s obsession with snow clad hill tops, Himalayan folklores, pahadi culture, and you get a hauntingly reverberating experience. As with all his films, Blue Umbrella boasts of almost romantic frames, fulfilling score, and a film-crazy narrative.
If you loved the Vishal & Gulzar of Sunset Point, Boodhe Pahadon Pe, Maachis, Blue Umbrella will stretch your romance and nostalgia to a feature length. The camera sifts through myriad degrees of sunlight, almost symbolizing the curves in the story. Vishal brilliantly contradicts this very symbolism device through using snow for both joy and despair at different points in the film. The crowd, which is initially a symbol of strength of our lonely protagonist, becomes his very nemesis in a memorable climactic marriage procession sequence.
Pankaj Kapoor is the single most essential reason to put this film into your collection. If not for all its strengths, Blue Umbrella is a must-possess for Kapoor fans, which I am sure and plenty. Vishal transforms his fondness for casting him in a central character to a memorable filmic outing. I have faint memories of there being a similar serial with Kapoor in the snow-capped hills, but can’t exactly remember what it was about. What he does exceptionally well is to lay the premise for the remaining film to follow, he breaks the ice between the multiplex viewer and minimalist cinema with his quintessential quirky dialogue delivery.
Throughout the film, Vishal underplays the fantasy element, and it is this very effort that pays in the end. You feel so fulfilled for seeing reality that is as enticing as a fairy tale. The adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s novella of the same name is realized on screen without any bias involved. There is no overt attempt at pleasing the kid in your lap asking for a similar umbrella. You would not see them doing out of normal things, they wouldn’t make faces at the camera or jump around hysterically or grow horns. The characters are not on either sides of justice, they sail through different moods of joy and sorrow. And if you feel more towards a certain character, it is the brilliance of the filmmaker’s hold over the craft. He demands your participation, he includes you in the film’s conclusion, and you feel good because of the inclusion and feel elated once it actually happens.
Apart from all the discussion-worthy aspects of the film, it does more than you could express. It talks inside your head and makes you nostalgic for the simple narratives like these that come few and far between.
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15 Responses to “The Blue Umbrella : Film Review”
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Thanks Tushar for th review of Blue Umbrella.
Are you refering to ‘Neem Ka Ped’ the DD serial where pankaj inacted the role of Budhiram or Bhudia as his character is refferd to.
Look back and we will find some excellent performances by Pankaj. ‘Ek Doctor ki Maut’, ‘karamchand’, ‘Neem Ka Ped’, and one coutndown show where he was the anchor along with satish kaushik. That one was the most hillarious countdown show. and in the recent times ‘maqbool’. what a performance by pankaj.
And not to forget this is a Vishal movie. I wonder at times how can a good music director be also so good a film director. Remember machis and lot many of vishal’s compositions. And how can we forget the soulfull ‘Rozana’ sung by Amitabh in Nishabad is composed by none other than Vishal.
And the movie Blue Umbrella where these two stalwarts come together. i am sure they must have created magic.
makdee maqbool omkara blue umbrella thanks for these gems vishal
Thanks for the comments Rahul.
No I am not referring to Neem ka ped. It was some detective serial towards the later phase of DD before daily soaps hijacked it. May be we would like to check with our Doordarshan specialists at PFC.
tHE DIRECTOR-COMPOSER Duo you talked about was immortalised by Ray. only recent example i can think of is Anjan Dutt.
Hey Tushar,
Was it Karamchand you were referring to?
No Venky, not Karamchand.
I am not able to dig the name out, I guess it could have been a short film, may be Rui Ka Bojh.
[...] Link to the review [...]
Its a great movie… Pankaj Kapur is simply brilliant.. We do not get to see such fine acting these days.. just downloaded the movie from www.indyaondemand.com.. thanks to such sites, we expats atleast dont miss such good movies..
Tushar,
if its a detective serial, it could be Mohandas BA LLB.. directed by Pankaj himself..
Pavan
BARDwaj has BONDed it beautifully!! Liked the film…its like one of those grandma’s tales where the world is all about black n white. no grey colours. the grey colour has corrupted us as it justifies everything. Loved Pankaj Kapoor in the film. He is brillaint n with that accent, he is damn funny too. Dont miss it if u r big fan of him. Even the lil girl is very natural. N hopefully Vishal will keep his promise of making evry other film for the kids.
N Tushar,thnx for the review. thought veryone missed it.
“1″ ???
@Pavan, yes I think its Mohandas BALLB.
@phoenixnu, well said about the grey thing. on missing the review, aap aagaye, kaafi hai
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1?? kya hai?!!
You need guts to make this kind of movie in India where there are no takers for children film, although I would call it as children film for adults. The movie is simply brilliant with great photography which forms part of the whole story and does not stand out separately.
Talking about Pankaj Kapoor, he is one of finest actors we have in our country. Another movie where he was outstanding was Ek Ruka Hua faisla and how one can forget Tarneja of Jaane Bhi Do Yaroon.
[...] Tushar, Passion for Cinema Rating: Thumbs up …Blue Umbrella is an ode to the innocent faced fables of Doordarshan days… See full review [...]
Wow. Really, what a film. Blue umbrella is for all…
ye in theater lots of the audiences where below 10 years of age. Jumping in interval, laughing and passing comments to there parent. It always feels you are in two in one zone when you were watching on silver screen and someone narrating interpreting and guessing around. and mummy says
Please don’t categorize the movie as a children film. Far from being a children film, i think the only category that the film belongs to is a good film category and a excellent performance by pankaj kapoor category
I don’t know why but i felt the movie had shades of darkness in the later half especially towards the end. The way Vishal has picturised the humiliation of Khatri, its brilliant.
@ atray, that happens in all the films these days man. whenever you watch anything in the multiplexes, you see people just sitting there for the joy of nothing. I was watching Babel and had a terrible experience of a similar sort. Blue Umbrella was comp. better, people were all queued in. You should watch the opening titles man, you hardly get to see something like “UTV Classics” otherwise
I am waiting for the DVD. I love the music, have the OST.
@Rahul, agree with you. I would call it a “Vishal” film, to be safe.
I saw this last weekend. Absolutely loved it. I thought I was going to like it for the girl, and instead, I was surprised to love it for Pankaj Kapoor. What a great performance. His expressions are superb. I agree with Rahul about the humilation of Khatri towards the end. He broke my heart.
He demands your participation, he includes you in the film