Thursday, April 14, 2011

Udaan - Movie Review

Udaan was another movie that I wanted to watch in the theatres. Unfortunately all our theatres decided to play rotten movies and get rid of the good ones at the earliest as usual, so I had to wait for the DVDs. And it was a long wait for sure. And the more I waited the more I felt that I missed something nice. Surprisingly the DVDs did not come into the market early. And when they came, they were frightfully expensive. And even then they were not available. Udaan, was by now acknowledged as a well made movie that was worth seeing.

'Udaan' is the story of Rohan (Rajat Barmecha) a 17 year old boy whose family is more dysfunctional than most. His father Mr. B. Singh (Ronit Roy) is a strict disciplinarian, a product of some strict upbringing himself, and he borders on the verge of being sadistic almost. He owns a small factory of sorts in Jamshedpur, where he works hard during the day (possibly eating some iron scraps for his meals), comes home and has his couple of pegs by night. He is off to a jog every morning, prides his physical fitness, his masculinity, and has a loathing for men who has a sensitive side. He also has a penchant for marrying repeatedly.

The story opens with Rohan and his bunch of friends getting expelled from a posh boarding school in Simla for sneaking off from the hostel at night. The young poet and writer returns home to his father who has not met him for 8 years, only to find that he has a 6 year old step brother he never knew of. Rohan's mother had died when he was young, and he does not know of his father's remarriage. The young kid who plays his step brother Arjun (Aayan Boradia) is really cute and does a great job showing us how fragile young kids can be. Rohan realises soon enough that his father has no space for dreams like writing etc nor does he have any finer feelings. The boys have to call him 'sir' at home and there is a strict code to be followed. Rohan rebels against almost everything his father makes him do, fails his exams in his new college, runs off with his car, drinks, smokes and breaks every rule. When the angry father knows that he has failed he puts him to work in the factory.

Things change when the younger son gets into some trouble at school and is sent home on a day when Singh could have closed a good deal. The crazed father beats the boy badly enough to land him in hospital where he is taken care of by Rohan as the father has to go out of town for a couple of days. At the hospital Arjun and several other people listen to the stories that Rohan tells them and love his stories. But the moment the father returns, they have an altercation where the drunk Singh beats up Rohan for questioning him on why he beat up the young boy. That very night a penitent father tells the boys he is sorry, and in the same breath tells that that he has decided to remarry. Rohan can work at the factory, Arjun will go to a boarding school. Singh's younger brother (Ram Kapoor) tries to make him see reason but he is insulted and told to get out. When Rohan interferes Singh burns up his book of poems. Furious, Rohan bashes up his father's car, spends a night in the police station because he is caught by the police and when he is released comes home to see a party going on. His father's new wife to be and her young girl are there. Arjun is to go to boarding school the next day. Rohan goes in, gets his things and tells his father his is leaving in front of his guests. When an angry Singh tries to catch him, Rohan punches him and runs away, for the first time, beating his father in the symbolic sprint - he has outgrown his father. He decides to go away to his friends in Mumbai who have set up a restaurant. But he returns the next day and takes Arjun away with him, leaving a note to his father that he better not try to find them. The two boys walk away, free, hand in hand.

'Udaan' is made with a lot of care and sensitivity. It addresses the pain of everyone, including the father who is tortured by his own demons. The youngsters gave a fabulous performance. Ronit Roy as the abusive father and Ram Kapoor as the sensitive uncle are perfect. It goes at its own pace, creating moods of helplessness, anger, frustration and then slowly that of flight. Only a boy like Rohan, free spirited and rebellious would have chosen to flee, to be free, and in the end he shows more tolerance, clarity and gumption than the adults around him. Vikramaditya Motwane directs his debut venture with all his heart and feel, and does not get influenced by any other factors other than to tell his story as effectively and convincingly as possible. And here one must appreciate his producers Sanjay Singh, Anurag Kashyap and Ronnie Screwwala, for letting his make what he believes in.'Udaan' will linger in its viewer's minds for years to come because it deals with an emotion that all of us feel - that of flight from our own imprisonment.

1 comment:

TUSHAR BHARDWAJ said...

Heartoching movie...wana see ever and ever