Mumbai Meri Jaan

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The Plot:
Aftermath of another illfated day of Mumbai – the day was 11th July 2006 when 7 bomb blast shattered the life line of Mumbai local trains. Plot is sensitive and genuine it traces the life of five individual.
Thomas: A South Indian ‘Chaiwala’  is ill-treated by riches. He has urge of vengeance which he fulfills by unusual manner.
Nikhil: Established software engineer, travels by local train to help the environment who witnesses the blast which changes his entire belief and doubts his patriotism.
Rupali: A well-known TV reporter who goes all out of the way to catch the grief of people to make sensational news for her channel. But 11th July makes herself sensational news to increase the TRP of the channel.
Suresh: Hard code Hindu who thinks each and every Muslim is terrorist including France footballer Zinedine Zidane
Kadam: Young fierce constable and his journey with old and retiring constable Tukaram Patil.
Ratings: **** (4 star) { One is missing as few questions are unanswered in the story telling }

Screenplays:
Natural. Each scene directed by Nishikant Kamat witnessed the real Mumbaikar. Looks like Mumbai is in his veins. He used first 25 minutes effectively to depict the each character. He is brilliant in establishing each of them just in 5 minutes.
I do not want to mention any particular screenplay here as each scene is so important to unfold the five various stories. I want all of you to watch it and understand the meaning of each screenplay because its expressions that speaks and not the actors.
Whether its Hollywood or Bollywood I did not find any movie where various stories are told in such effortless manner. You do not loose any link when one story jumps to another. Hats off to Director!
Ratings: **** (4 Star) {One is missing as its bit slow after the intermission }

Casts:
PERFECT. I am sure that Director must have given a lot of thought before signing them. Irafaan Khan does not need proving that he is one of the finest actor happen to Bollywood. He may be having just 2-3 dialogues but he conveys immensely through his facial expressions. Key Key is in his natural self. Watch him when Yusuf offers Shirdi SaiBaba Prasad, or when Tukaram Patil gives him word of wisdom. Madhavan, I am happy that you are getting role of your caliber finally. Audience will remember you for this character. Good show. Soha, good to know that you are concentrating more on your script and role unlike your brother. You had done full justice to your role but you have way to go. All credit goes to director who could extract best in Soha. Looks like director picked Vijay Maurya from theaters. You tend to forget its movie whenever Vijay Maurya comes on screen as loyal but disturbed constable.  He is so natural that you don’t mind believing that he is real constable. And here comes award winning performance by Paresh Rawal. His body language, his facial expression, his dialogue delivery is flawless. After watching his performance the only thing that came to my mind is why he is underestimated so long. I will be disappointed if he won’t win National Award.  I would like to mention other supporting characters as well. There are many but each one is just too good.
Ratings: ****(4 Star) { One is missing as I felt Konkana Sharama Sen would have done better job than Soha}

Others:
This movie has only one background song which has excellent lyrics about ‘Jeevan.’. Recreated scenes of bomb blast makes you cry. Lighting is used effectively. If expressions are soul of the movie then dialogues are the life of the movie. Do not miss the dialogues by Tukaram Patil about communal rights and his last retirement speech. Rahul’s friend talk about 9/11 and un-secure life in America. Direction is superb and I don’t mind comparing Nishikant Kamat with Madhur Bhandarkar. Mr. Nihikant Kamat, we prefer to watch such meaningful cinema rather than mindless drama. So gear up for next release.!!! We are waiting.
Ratings: ****(4 Star)

Suv’s Verdict:
If you are craving for meaningful cinema then this is NO NO MISS. Don’t go with the intension of entertainment. This is serious movie which has hard hitting message at the end. If there are budding terrorist then they must watch it, at least they will realize that path adopted by them is so wrong. I spent most important six struggling years of my life in Mumbai and I could instantly connect to spirit of Mumbai. If you are Mumbaikar then it will surely give you strength to tackle the situation. Its must watch for its soul stirring experience. MUMBAI IS JAAN OF INDIA – Aey dil hain aasan jeena yaha…
Ratings: ****(4 Star)