I have no clue why I missed this one when it released. And I cant fathom how movies such as Lamhaa, Edge of Darkness, Knight and Day and I Hate Luv Storys would take precedence over screen time over such a powerful movie like Udaan. I can, however understand them giving precedence to Inception which released around the same time but which I am quite sure did not eat away into screen time so much that the movie houses could not have given Udaan more time. Surely there are more takers for quality cinema in India. Guess I am not right on that count.
Rohan Singh (Rajat Barmecha), Maninder Singh (Manjot Singh), Vikram (Raja Hudda) and Benoy (Varun Khettry) are four seventeen year olds who are in the last year in school. Obviously this comes with the excess baggage of a chip on their shoulders and raging hormones. They decide to play truant from the hostel @ Bishop Cotton Shimla and watch a soft porn movie – Kanti Shah Ke Angoor (ROTFL – reminds me of our days in college). As luck would have it, the school warden, Rathod (Sanjay Gandhi) is also in the same show. Our foursome cannot rush back to the hostel faster than Rathod on his moped thanks to one of them spraining his ankle. Since it is the 3rd time that they are in gross violation of school roles, all of them are expelled and now make their way back home.
Rohan’s dad, Bhairav Singh (Ronit Roy) is Hitler personified. In the words of his brother, Jimmy (Ram Kapoor), every dad wants his son to grow up to be like him and no one else. Add to that the frustration of having lost his first wife over 8 years back and a 2nd failed marriage that has left him with another son, a 6 year old - Arjun (Aayan Barodia). He hasn’t made an effort to visit Rohan in school over the past 8 years. And Rohan is blissfully unaware of Arjun’s existence. But after the initial friction, Rohan and Arjun both realize that they are both on the same side. Rohan wants to be a writer / poet but Bhairav will have nothing of it and forces him to work @ his factory in the day and study at the local engineering college in the afternoon. Despite Jimmy’s best efforts, Bhairav doesn’t budge.
Udaan traces the story of how Rohan tries to break free from the shackles of his ruthless father. But one cannot really help but feel sorry for Bhairav and is also compelled to think from his side – not that his actions are justified in any ways – purely with a perspective of intent. Ronit Roy truly deserves the Star Screen Award that he got for his performance in a “Villainous Role” although it would be very harsh to call the role of a Villain. They should be fair and actually give him the best performance for the year is what I say. I don’t think anyone who is nominated for the Best Actor this year in any of the awards has performed as well as Ronit Roy has. Full credit to him and the fact that Vikramaditya Motwane has extracted the performance from him. Motwane joins the list of first time directors this year. But what makes him different is the attention to detail, the ability to hold a story line and the courage to cut the riff raff. Udaan runs for a compact 134 mins with nothing which seems unnecessary and maybe a couple of instances of inconsistency – for instance, how did Rohan get into an Engineering College without passing class 12 (irrespective of the best efforts of his father).
I don’t mean to undermine Rajat Barmecha’s performance – which was quite solid – but it was clearly over shadowed by Ronit Roy. Purely my opinion. Ram Kapoor comes up with yet another super sincere performance – an attribute that one has started associating with him over the years. And a gem of a performance from the kid, Aayan Barodia which got him an award for the Best Child Artiste this year. Truly deserving. It is not for the heck of it that Udaan has received the best movie award @ this year’s Star Screen awards. Its truly a good movie. Was it the best in the year – probably not. Pipped @ the post in my books by Do Dooni Chaar and Tere Bin Laden both of which were super quality cinema. I would nevertheless give Udaan the same rating as these 2 – 7 on 10. Put it to your must watch list folks.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1334248985/
Rohan Singh (Rajat Barmecha), Maninder Singh (Manjot Singh), Vikram (Raja Hudda) and Benoy (Varun Khettry) are four seventeen year olds who are in the last year in school. Obviously this comes with the excess baggage of a chip on their shoulders and raging hormones. They decide to play truant from the hostel @ Bishop Cotton Shimla and watch a soft porn movie – Kanti Shah Ke Angoor (ROTFL – reminds me of our days in college). As luck would have it, the school warden, Rathod (Sanjay Gandhi) is also in the same show. Our foursome cannot rush back to the hostel faster than Rathod on his moped thanks to one of them spraining his ankle. Since it is the 3rd time that they are in gross violation of school roles, all of them are expelled and now make their way back home.
Rohan’s dad, Bhairav Singh (Ronit Roy) is Hitler personified. In the words of his brother, Jimmy (Ram Kapoor), every dad wants his son to grow up to be like him and no one else. Add to that the frustration of having lost his first wife over 8 years back and a 2nd failed marriage that has left him with another son, a 6 year old - Arjun (Aayan Barodia). He hasn’t made an effort to visit Rohan in school over the past 8 years. And Rohan is blissfully unaware of Arjun’s existence. But after the initial friction, Rohan and Arjun both realize that they are both on the same side. Rohan wants to be a writer / poet but Bhairav will have nothing of it and forces him to work @ his factory in the day and study at the local engineering college in the afternoon. Despite Jimmy’s best efforts, Bhairav doesn’t budge.
Udaan traces the story of how Rohan tries to break free from the shackles of his ruthless father. But one cannot really help but feel sorry for Bhairav and is also compelled to think from his side – not that his actions are justified in any ways – purely with a perspective of intent. Ronit Roy truly deserves the Star Screen Award that he got for his performance in a “Villainous Role” although it would be very harsh to call the role of a Villain. They should be fair and actually give him the best performance for the year is what I say. I don’t think anyone who is nominated for the Best Actor this year in any of the awards has performed as well as Ronit Roy has. Full credit to him and the fact that Vikramaditya Motwane has extracted the performance from him. Motwane joins the list of first time directors this year. But what makes him different is the attention to detail, the ability to hold a story line and the courage to cut the riff raff. Udaan runs for a compact 134 mins with nothing which seems unnecessary and maybe a couple of instances of inconsistency – for instance, how did Rohan get into an Engineering College without passing class 12 (irrespective of the best efforts of his father).
I don’t mean to undermine Rajat Barmecha’s performance – which was quite solid – but it was clearly over shadowed by Ronit Roy. Purely my opinion. Ram Kapoor comes up with yet another super sincere performance – an attribute that one has started associating with him over the years. And a gem of a performance from the kid, Aayan Barodia which got him an award for the Best Child Artiste this year. Truly deserving. It is not for the heck of it that Udaan has received the best movie award @ this year’s Star Screen awards. Its truly a good movie. Was it the best in the year – probably not. Pipped @ the post in my books by Do Dooni Chaar and Tere Bin Laden both of which were super quality cinema. I would nevertheless give Udaan the same rating as these 2 – 7 on 10. Put it to your must watch list folks.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1334248985/
Finally... though i thought it deserved a 8.....
ReplyDeleteBut u the boss :)
Its a great movie with great performances ! Must watch indeed !
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