Review: Mumbai Meri Jaan / Phoonk
CITY CITY, BANG BANG
The 7/11 Mumbai blasts form the backdrop for an uneven drama that’s redeemed by several powerful moments. Plus, a cheerfully trashy scare movie.
AUG 24, 2008 – PERHAPS THE ONLY WAY TO LOOK AT A FILM bookended by red roses – it begins with a wreath; it ends with a man extending a single bloom – is as a romance. And with its title reminiscent of a roadside Romeo’s call to his beloved, Nishikant Kamat’s Mumbai Meri Jaan is, first and foremost, a love story between a city and its inhabitants, with the 2006 train blasts proving to be the villain who threatens to tear the lovers apart. When you love someone, the reasons aren’t always logical, and they almost always have to do more with the heart than the head. And others – non-Mumbaikars, in this case – cannot begin to fathom the extent of this love, because being in love is one thing, and hearing about someone being in love quite another. That’s why, I feel, the good people of Mumbai will respond best to this fictional imagining of the days that followed 7/11. They will be the ones who will overlook its faults and open their hearts to it – while the rest of us, to whom this is just a movie, will not be able to be quite as forgiving.
Because for the rest of us, this love is not a given. It has to be communicated in a manner that’s affecting and convincing – and that’s something Kamat’s film doesn’t quite manage all the time. If we experience a lump in the throat as Rafi launches into Ae dil, mushkil, jeena yahaan, it’s because of our associations with the song, the singer, the movie, the era of filmmaking – but when a Mumbaikar hears this number, as it plays over the end credits, the effect is surely that of listening to a serenade. And how can we compete with that extent of emotion, which is possibly so overpowering that the fact that this song isn’t really an ode to the resilience of Mumbai, as it is implied here, is least relevant? That it is about Mumbai (or Bombay, according to the song) is all that’s important. So too the terror of a series of bombings that crippled the train services, the lifeline of the city – how could those of us to whom this is an abstract, faraway horror begin to understand its implications and its resonances in a population to whom these trains are a concrete, everyday reality?
And therefore, Mumbai Meri Jaan is destined to play as two movies – a deeply moving drama (by default) to the people of Mumbai, and, for the others, a film that succeeds on several counts but is constrained by its incessant warm-fuzziness and its underlying implication that the solutions to the problems that face us are just a group hug away. (And, needless to say, had Kamat been able to pull it all off, we would all have seen the same movie.) This is a film where some truly great writing (in terms of dialogue and character) has been squandered on alarmingly simple-minded screenplay contrivances – or, perhaps, the right way to look at it would be that some alarmingly simple-minded screenplay contrivances have, thankfully, been bettered with truly great writing. What is it with films that deal with tragedies in Mumbai – like, well, Bombay – that they end with such blatantly positive messages of hope, leaving you with the feeling of watching someone attempt to cure AIDS with a bottle of cough syrup? Let’s hold hands and the world will be a better place – that seems to be the takeaway from Mumbai Meri Jaan as well.
The problem isn’t the message itself – and much as I loathe messages in movies, I realise that it isn’t always such a bad thing to come away with a few positive thoughts – but with the all-too-convenient manner in which these platitudes are put across, as if peace and harmony were merely a state of rosy health that could be attained with a timely injection of hope and goodwill. Sometimes, it isn’t the bad movies that frustrate you, but the good ones that do not go after the greatness that is so within reach. Mumbai Meri Jaan tracks the stories of five people affected by the blasts – the programmatically drawn characters played by Kay Kay Menon, Soha Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal, Irrfan Khan and Madhavan; each represents a microcosmic cross-section of the city – either directly, because they were in or near the trains, or indirectly, because, well, they belong to Mumbai, and this villainous act has sown seeds of doubt in their minds about the long-term viability of their relationship with the city they love. The film is about the ripples set off by a senseless tragedy – and had it simply dealt with how the victims cope, it could have been a moving little gem.
Unfortunately, Mumbai Meri Jaan wants to offer solutions – in the form of idealistic change-your-heart banalities, which undo a lot of the genuinely complex good work done earlier. The same wish-fulfillment scenarios might have succeeded in a simpler, simplistic film, but with something this oblique and ambitious, these instant fix-it suggestions appear laughably tacked on, as if the producer warned Kamat, “I gave you the funds to make the film you want. Now go make some adjustments so that it will also be the movie that the average moviegoer (or awards jury) would want.” Someone who sets off a bomb-scare panic in the city’s malls, with a series of prank calls, is shown the error of his ways when he sees one of the mall-goers clutch at his weak heart in the midst of a stampede to escape to safety. Someone who’s toying with thoughts of emigrating to the US is reminded of 9/11, of how tourists used to come to see the Twin Towers, whereas now they come to see Ground Zero. (All this, while the background is filled with meditative chants, as if the very secret of the scriptures were being demystified in order to steady the vacillations of this man in doubt.)
To see why these developments are so disappointing, you have to see how these developments came to be. The person who’s thinking of emigrating is a chance survivor of the blasts. But for a lucky accident, he might have ended up dead – and this hairline escape has severely unsettled him and instilled a deep sense of paranoia. Kamat gives us a beautiful scene in which this character’s pregnant wife berates him after he returns home, that he couldn’t be bothered to make a single call and inform her that he was okay. And he’s still in a daze, as if thoughts of his wife and his unborn child and his parents who live with him can wait – and all he can think of, for the moment, is how close he was to being reduced to a mass of mangled limbs, like some of the other passengers on his train. He becomes so paranoid about boarding trains that he begins to take taxis to work – and we get a haunting image of the taxi running parallel to the tracks, with him staring out of the window at the rattling death trap that’s hurtling past. He’s shifted his allegiance from one mode of transportation to another, and the way he feels, it appears that it’s just a small step before he switches allegiance from one country to another.
And when these unspoken half-thoughts coagulate into vulgar spoken dialogue – as in that speech about 9/11, which reminds him that No Country Is Entirely Safe – it’s a shock. And it’s equally shocking that the delicate textures of Mumbai Meri Jaan transform, without warning, into a finger-wagging Madhur Bhandarkar movie – the kind that pounds us with its insights that rich people and television companies are bad, bad, bad. Soha Ali Khan’s story suffers the most due to this change in tone. She plays a television reporter who heartlessly thrusts a mike in front of the faces of people who’ve just suffered a tragedy, and don’t you know, she’s soon reduced to a tragic figure herself, now facing a heartlessly thrust mike in front of her face. These childish retributory mechanisms come off as third-rate television drama, filled with “touches” like the auspicious redness of a wedding card being contrasted with the gloomy black of a silhouette of a woman who’s lost her fiancé. Mumbai Meri Jaan is at its worst when it addresses the plight of those directly affected by the blasts, the ones at the epicentre.
And it’s at its best while tackling the characters who are only feeling the aftershocks. Irrfan Khan gets a marvellous story arc that’s borderline irresponsible – but the reason it works so well, at least till it’s time for him to realise The Error Of His Ways, is the realisation that tragedies of this magnitude do not always result in reactions of hushed, respectful mourning. There are going to be those who exploit these unsettling times for their own little kicks. The portions with Paresh Rawal (who plays a cop on the verge of retirement) and Vijay Maurya (who’s a newbie on the force) are also wonderful. The scene that made the film, for me, is the one where these policemen stumble upon Kay Kay, who’s drunk and whose anger towards a community has made him target a poor old Muslim who’s wheeling a cycle at night. Kay Kay asks him what he’s carrying, and when the older man replies that it’s just pav, he snatches a bun and bites into it and asks sarcastically if it won’t explode once inside his stomach, “Pet mein jaayega to phatega to nahin?”
And when the cops arrive at the scene and warn Kay Kay that he’s out of line, he insults them and runs away. Maurya gives chase, gives up, and turns, in frustration, to Irrfan, who’s been a silent spectator all along. And for no reason, he is commanded to perform sit-ups, like an errant student in a classroom in a village. With this, Kamat shows us the cycle of violence, of revenge – of wanting to get even with the one who’s readily at hand, if not the one who’s really responsible. And this idea is movingly brought full circle when, later on, Rawal instructs Kay Kay on a variation of the Gandhi-ism that an eye for an eye only ends up in a world gone blind. It’s moments like these when Mumbai Meri Jaan stands still and shines, content to be a movie rather than a moral science lesson. And despite the potential for touchy-feeliness in this speech, Rawal puts it across so beautifully, your eyes tear up at his innocent conviction. There are a lot of strong performances here – from Maurya, Madhavan, Kay Kay, Irrfan – but this is a Rawal showcase all the way through. Just watch him tear into a series of extraordinarily crafted speeches – about the time he nabbed a big shot who was carrying cocaine and had to let him go; about the time, as a child, he stole a teacher’s spectacles; about his remorse at not having a single major accomplishment in all his years of service – and you’ll sense the hunger of a performer who’s been too long denied. For all the explosions in the film – literal and otherwise – the sound you come away remembering is the satisfied burp of an actor who’s finally had his fill.
NOTHING, JUST NOTHING, ESCAPES Ram Gopal Varma’s malevolent gaze in the black magic thriller Phoonk. Soft toys, calendar art, religious icons, felled branches by the roadside – just about everything on screen is transformed into a shamanistic fetish object, intended to spook the daylights out of a gleefully complicit audience. Part B-movie, part boo-movie, Phoonk is the silliest thing Varma has attempted in years – never mind all his grandstanding about how this is actually a debate on Science versus Superstition – but that very sleaziness is, strangely, the film’s strength. Scary movies usually lull you into a state of deceptive calm and then let loose their jack-in-the-box shocks, but with Varma’s signature style in the forefront – all that jarring background music, all that snaking camerawork – there’s not a moment of quiet, and your nerves are jangly from start to finish.
This alone would fulfill the expectations of a lot of people – but because we hold Varma to a higher standard, let’s recall the far classier Bhoot, of which I wrote at the time, “And there’s so much quietness, the sudden rainfall sounds like gunfire and the buzz of the calling bell makes your heart stop.” The understated elegance of that film is nowhere in sight here. Phoonk appears deliberately calculated to percolate down to every single member of the audience – the promotional line could well have been: “Look, Ram Gopal Varma can make a movie that will draw large numbers to the theatres” – and it doesn’t trust us to put two and two together. There’s a ton of drearily clumsy exposition built around Rajeev’s (Sudeep) scientific temperament. He refuses to accept that the trials that befall his daughter (Ahsaas Channa) could be a function of the occult – and it’s hard to believe that this is what Varma was referring to when he said his film was going to trigger debates among supporters and scoffers.
The other problem with Phoonk is that it doesn’t possess an iota of mystery. (There could be spoilers ahead.) From the minute we see Ashwini Kalsekar (who pitches her performance at such a decibel, it can be heard from the moon) with her black-crescent forehead markings and her inebriated witch’s cackle, we know she’s somehow responsible for the child’s plight. Having referenced The Exorcist in the image of a relic being unearthed during an excavation, I kept hoping that Varma would also channel that film’s stomach-churning atmosphere of domestic dread – of what could happen when someone you love is suffering from something beyond your control. But we don’t share Rajeev’s abject helplessness, because we know that his daughter’s condition isn’t due so much to a nameless horror as a shamelessly hammy actress. But as the film progresses, you see that, had Kalsekar been reined in, she’d have been a misfit – for everything around her is equally over the top. And with that in mind, it’s easier to buy into the realisation that Phoonk was never going to add up to anything more than a couple of hours of trashy scares.
Copyright ©2008 The New Sunday Express. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without
Managed to watch Phoonk.. It was not scary at all( except for one scene which made me jump). There was one particular scene in the second half (where the domestic help wakes up after a spooky nightmare,gets up, checks things out and goes back to bed) which worked big time in making the audience expect a scare. I thought it was vintage RGV.
But in the second half, the pace was faster, the emphasis was not to scare but to unfold the story. This was the same format used in Bhoot.
Bhoot was scarier and as BR mentioned, classier. Better luck next time RGV!!
BR: While Mumbai Meri Jaan will figure in my list of best fiilms of 2008 (with Mithya clearly heading the list), I was a tad disappointed. And that was precisely for the reason you meantion – the tendency to find quick-fix solutions. The way the Irrfan Khan story was progressing I was quite impressed till its over-simplistic denouement. Ditto for Madhavan’s and Kay Kay’s stories.
The show clearly belonged to Paresh Rawal. His last sppech itself is reason enough to watch this film!
*spoiler alert* In the Kay Kay story, there was one scene that I liked for its understated humour and unintentional irony. When Kay Kay hears a Mohd. Rafi song playing in one of the homes, he expresses his prejudice by commenting “these people would never hear Kishore Kumar”. The irony lies in the song being played – kar chale hum fida jaan-o-tan saathiyon.
Good. Seems we can win those 5 lakhs without much effort.
BR, haven’t seen the movie but your review of Mumbai was quite vivid and interesting to read. what did you think of the director’s earlier dombivali Fast/Evano Oruvan? (I know it was inspired from Falling down, but apart from that)
Mumbai meri jaan had some very powerful moments and great performances. It is a story with 5 different tracks and I judged it based on how these tracks were handled and how effective they became as sum of parts.
Paresh rawal – Vijay Sharya track : Wonderful character development, nice story arc and superb performances.
Irfan Khan Track : Wonderful performance, good character build up. A bit convenient at its end.
K K Menon track : Again a very good performance. I loved the scene where he goes to Salim’s? house with his frnd and the interaction they have in the house with his Mom.
The three tracks meet to give one of the best scenes of the movie which you have already discussed. Even the scene where paresh rawal catches KK and gives ‘gyan’ is a cracker because of Paresh Rawal’s performance.
The other two tracks were a bit disappointing especially considering how good rest of the movie was. But some of the scenes even in those tracks were quiet good. The ‘Rupali bani rudali’ scene had me laughing hard, sadly that is the cruel reality of current news channels.
Overall the film was not outstanding but quiet good.
Mohd Rafi in the end would just have notched an 1/2 a star extra if I was rating this movie
Anand: Reg. “This was the same format used in Bhoot…” Also, it was very similarly structured to Bhoot – like Victor Banerjee was the Man of Science there, like Lillete Dubey here. There was an old-woman neighbour there, versus an old grandmother here…
Aditya Pant: It does look like nothing will dislodge Mithya this year, doesn’t it? And yes, that Haqueeqat reference was a gem – the way Kay Kay delivered that line was bitingly hilarious, in the sense that you got a sense of his prejudice, but couldn’t help laughing all the same because of the way he seemed to be grabbing at every available straw to tar a community.
Kishor: Isn’t that just a gimmick? Or is that a real promotion?
Vijay: I haven’t seen Dombivali Fast, but I was quite disappointed by Evano Oruvan. I never got a sense of a valid flashpoint that made him erupt, and after a point, it seemed to morph into some sort of vigilante movie (the battle against the druggie slums, the hospital-front litterers and so on). It was like watching an arty Shankar film. Maybe something got lost in the translation.
And even here, were it not for the performances and the downright brilliance of a few scenes, the rest of the film would have been a let down. BTW, after those Airtel ads and the conversation over the phone with the NRI-friend here, Madhavan seems to have to have reached a new high in relaxed, charming performances
Gaurav Agrawal: Oh, I don’t know. The Soha track was generally appalling. Maybe the problem is that TV news already looks like a satire, and when you try to satirise that, it’s pointless. The whole thing came off as something Bhandarkar would do.
BR, will you be doing a review of ‘Akashagopuram’?
Nirmal: Not likely, man. I have a problem with watching un-subtitled movies in languages I don’t fully understand — and even if I did watch the film, I certainly wouldn’t presume to do a “review” with the general sense I walked away with.
BR, pls do review Aakashagopuram. Subtitled versions are playing in Mumbai.
Rangan….looking forward to this, it has a feel of Metro having to do with multistarrer and the locale. Hope it lives upto that at least. No thoughts on Kuselan yet?….have u seen it. Are we pushing our chances of a future column ??
You surely do hate bhandarkar
I agree that Soha track was a general let down but probably things around kept me generally happy.
Anyways I believe I am generally going mad… I saw the trailer of CKKompany recently and found it interesting
Baradwaj,
Have you seen RGV’s ‘Raat’- that too had a format similar to the one in ‘Bhoot’ – a psychiatrist, a man of religion, their conflict, an old woman etc. Interesting that RGV rehashes the same stuff again and again.
One more thing, have you seen ‘The Orphanage’ – supposed to be some classic horror film. Would be interested to read your take on that film.
OMG! The review of Mumbai Meri Jaan best describes the scene after the movie. Here I was choking and sniffing and felt my heart slowly but surely exploding with every single moment spent on the local trains and missing even that lethargic dog on the overbridge at Goregaon and my patidev is saying, “Good but not that good.” There could have been murder, but then, not all stories have a good ending.
True, there is absolutely no objectivity when you see a movie that touches a raw nerve deep inside. When you’ve waited for someone to come home safe, you can’t be a dispassionate viewer.
Very insightful. Or perhaps it was obvious, as my patidev would have said. Whatever. Enjoyed the read.
Aparna: Mumbai? And that helps… how?
karthik: Didn’t catch Kuselan. And don’t plan a column either…
Raj Balakrishnan: Nope, haven’t seen Orphanage. But in general, I prefer spooky movies to horror/gore type films. You know, like Rosemary’s Baby or The Others?
Baradwaj,
Thanks for the reply. I too prefer spooky movies. Ring, I thought,was a great spooky film (especially that black and white grainy video in the film).
brangan, you are so naive. You are sitting in Chennai and writing about Bollywood. Why cant you nag your editor for a trip to Mumbai to ‘get a feel’ for your domain and in general, establish relationships etc. Or better still, push for a jaunt to US, since thats where most bolly biggies seem to be shooting or resting or performing, you know.
If you had spent some more time back in the previous job, maybe you would have learnt these tricks
Hi there, I have made it a point to check your site first thing in the morning (gives the same pleasure as starting the day with a cuppa!) On days when I find more than one article, its like “Sardi ke dino mein adrak vaali chai
. I love the way you write reviews but enjoy the whole format of the interviews more. One of the rare good reads around, keep up the good work.
Baradwaj, ‘The Orphanage’ definitely falls in the spooky rather than bloody/gore category. Great atmosphere and unforgettable climax. Highly recommended
raj: Yeah – and maybe when I do a take on those French and Italian films, I could ask for tickets to Paris and Rome too.
D: Thank you very much.
Balaji: Oh, I’ll check it out then. Thanks. I just can’t handle those Saw type films, if you know what I mean…
I agree to your point with Mumbai Meri Jaan where you mention the director wants to find quick fix solutions. However, I thought the performances stand out in the ‘documentary’. Paresh Rawal, Irrfan, Kay Kay, Maddy in that order. I also agree that Evano Oruvan was a let down. One other thing I liked in the movie was the cinematography and also specific scenes where the direction was brilliant. As earlier mentioned, the movie worked like a documentary.
Btw BR (apologies for going off track), have you seen Subramaniapuram? Any reviews? Look fwd to read the same. (if i have not missed it in earlier posts).. Or do you maintain any page separately for kollywood reviews, bcoz I hardly see any from you. I am sure there are better movies than Singh is Kinng and God Tussi Great ho, that require attention from kollywood. I hope you have not given up on tamil movies!!!
Rags B: I talked about the film in a Between Reviews post – called A Bloody Good Show. No, I haven’t given up on Tamil movies
Let’s see, this year alone, I’m looking forward to Saroja, Naan Kadavul… Even this week’s Dhaam Dhoom sounds like silly fun (though I hated Unnale Unnale, Jeeva’s earlier film).
Read your Subramaniapuram review. Excellent as ever!
I totally agree with Unnale Unnale
Lets hope for Saroja, looks very good from what is promoted till date. And the other movies as well!
Got this email about Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron… “I happened to see a movie called ‘Harry and Walter go to New York’ about a couple of years back… I was not paying much atention to the movie until they reached the climax. And then it cicked. The idea for the climax, that crowning glory of the cult movie that is JBDY seemed to have been inspired from this 1976 movie. And not just that, even the basic storyline is very similar. I wonder if you have seen the film or if anyone else who visit your blog might have seen it. And do they find similarities between the two films, or am I just imagining things here?”
I haven’t seen the film, but has anyone? And is there anything to this contention?
Rangan: Are you sure you dont just want to see Dhaam Dhoom to check out the visuals of “Aazhiyile Mukkulikkum Azhagae” ?
Deepauk M: vendaam ayya, indha vibareetha vilayaattu. apparam “mundhanai padi yeravaa”-voda visuals discuss panna vendiya varum
Baradwaj, I always enjoy your reviews after watching the movie. Your observations about Mumbai … are right on money. It fails to engage audience by closing all the loops. Had it left a few loose ends, it would have given a chance for people to pause and ponder.
hey BR, stumbled upon this interview of Kamal circa 1996. You might be very interested in the following excerpt:
“Well… Mahanadi is my all-time favourite, so is Kurudhipunal, but the credit for Kurudhipunal should go more to the producer, than the actor. Amongst my old films, I think I’m competent in Sagar Sangamam. At one point, we were planning to dub it in Marathi, but too much time got wasted in floundering. I’d say that Nayakan and Thevar Magan are complete films. There are effective moments that touch you even today. My performance in Indian is okay, but I’ve donned tremendous make-up in the film. No other actor in India has done this kind of make-up so far. I made a couple of trips abroad to meet specialists and experiment. The role has a zing about it the way Appu had a zing in Appu Raja, even though Raja’s performance in the film is far superior to Appu’s. Appu is the obsession of a writer.
“
Mumbai meri jaan is the latest flick to borrow its title from age old vintage classic songs, starting from the trend setter DDLJ about 15 years ago, to the other co – releases Bachna Ae Haseeno and Jaane tu ya jaane na. In fact, Nishinkant Kamat also delectably uses the classic old song in the final scene depicting that Mumbai is as much a “Meri Jaan” to a Mumbaikar, even today, as it was 4 to 5 decades ago.
The story line depicts irony in our day to day lives, especially in the news reporter who makes stories out of incidents, becomes a story herself; or a cop who sees his alter ego in his conscientious colleague and laments at having no true success story to narrate about his service, on retiring after 35 years of successful service; or how a split second decision of changing bogey from I Class to II Class can change your life. It also shows how our preconceived notions or prejudices can be belied by the reality of the situation; as a man biased against a community is destined for sun shine in life from that very community person.
I give 10/10 to the director on detailing and would like to quote one particular scene, which I wonder how many viewers have observed. When Suresh (Kay Kay Menon) and his friend go to Yusuf’s house, there is a picture of Shirdi Sai Baba on the cupboard in this Muslim’s house. Frankly, my friend and I were for a moment chuckling at this oddity, which we thought was the director’s oops moment, a blooper; only to realize later that it was his Oomph moment, when Yusuf shares Shirdi Sai Baba’s Prasad with Kay Kay, justifying Baba’s picture in his house. Full marks to you sir.
The other interesting act is of Irfan Khan, his angst against the society, his well rehearsed cycling style, his pompous walking style on his success of ruling the lives of people followed by his coming out into the crossroads of life, hands spread standing over a cross on the streets as though he is the Jesus whom he prays and whose photo adorns his house.
All these aspects make the movie an absolutely outstanding movie, leaving a sense of optimism and positivity at the end of the day, in otherwise our banal situations. Full marks also to Soha Ali Khan, Irfan Khan, Maurya for outstanding performances. A special mention of Paresh Rawal, for probably the most stupendous performance and by far his best performance in my opinion.
Prakash F Madhwani
Bangalore 560022
Hi..when is ur next post?
Can we hope for Dhaam Dhoom review soon?
Mumbai Meri Jaan sounds like a decent movie, but am I allowed to say that I’ve gone weary of the “fanatic, intolerant Hindu” sterotype in Indian movies? I mean once in a while it would be nice to see an Indian movie where other faiths are shown to be contributing to the religious intolerance in India.
Shalini, that comment somehow made me smile. Yeah, you are right, if I only watched Hindi movies of such type, I would end up htinking Hinduism is such an intolerant faith that bludgeons its followers into blind hatred for others:-)
Ah! You should watch Telugu movies, where the other community is bashed regularly and you hardly find a non-righteous Hindu, unless he is fighting a rigtheous Hindu played by the hero. Telugu filmdom is almost minority-phobic.
Great review on ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’. Felt very happy when the due credit was given to Paresh Rawal – what a class and elegant performance. The art of acting is just flowing from him in each and every shot – and that too with such ease and naturally! I fully agree with those scenes which really stamp a lasting impression about this movie. The scene where 2 minutes silence during the anniversay of the blast was well taken and well structured too – it really spreads the importance of creatively remembering these tragedies to leave the right impact with the whole population.
cheers,