Mumbai Meri Jaan

Director: Nishikant Kamat
Year: 2008
Cast: Paresh Rawal, Kay Kay Menon, Madhavan, Vijay Maurya, Soha Ali Khan.
Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)

I recently watched a movie called Bloody Sunday. Directed by British director Paul Greengrass, it is a faithful representation (rather recreation) of what happened on the streets of Derry on 30 th January, 1972. It was a bright Sunday remembered in the history for the tragic incident leading to the death of 13 protesters for civil rights. The movie's documentary-like approach works making it a memorable watch. Anyway, as good movie as that was, the events were precisely reconstructed. Nishikant Kamat, who made a powerful Dombivali Fast, attempts something much more ambitious here. Someone with conviction and clarity of vision only could do. He uses the September 7 attack in Mumbai local as backdrop and creates a heart wrenching drama.

We meet four people from walks of society and come to care for them. A senior cop about to retire, Tukaram Patil (along with his subordinate Kadam), A techie Nikhil Agrawal, a journalist Rupali Joshi, a trader Suresh and a road vendor Thomas. All of them are affected by the blasts in some way and it changed their lives forever. Their tales are as affecting as the movie, if not more. Thanks to the writers. The film effectively depicts the resilience and audacity of a city which never stops, literally.

For me, the biggest strength of this film was that it tells us the things as ordinary people like you and me understand. Yes, it does falter at more than one occasions. For instance when Suresh is sitting in a hotel and Yusuf comes there and he suddenly starts talking about how he had gone to Shirdi and all. Why would a person we hardly (here, never) met before would all of a sudden start such a discussion? When Rupali (Soha Ali Khan) is talking a reporter about her fiance's death, the camera keeps revolving around her. Had the camera just panned into her, making us feel what she feels, it would have made a much more poignant scene. These small issues could have easily taken care of. That said, cinema is never about perfection. Here, it's about a team of writers and craftsmanship of a director to come up with something original and untold.

Tukaram Patil (Parel Rawal) tells so many insights about the system, knowing very well that he himself can't do anything for it. He's lost the strength to do it but always wished he could. In one way, he reminds me of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell of No Country for Old Men. There's an incident where a friend of Nikhil tells him about his life in US and he stares blankly. Mind you, blankly. There's no hope, none whatsoever. Maybe this vast empty space is our plain indifference to the horrible things happening around us. This is the country which came on streets for justice, for peace, for the philosophy of non-violence. That has now been replaced by irksome negligence. We are getting used to it. As his friend says, maybe our children will get used to this. This is dangerous.