Udaan is the real deal. Review on Udaan

I've admired the rustic feel of Peepli Live, the melodrama of My Name is Khan, the lol moments of Atithi tum kab..., but as I was watching Udaan, I realised my reviews have been just as fake as the movies that I was reviewing. Udaan is like a beautiful piece of music in which every note is true...you know why? Coz the director, Vikramaditya Motwane, bears his heart and soul in this movie and NOTHING in this movie strikes one as false. I dont know if Udaan is autobiographical, but this man sure knows how to tell a story...and what is this story you ask?

Story:

Rohan (Rajat Barmecha) is a gifted 17 year old, studying in a boarding school far, far away from home. When we first lay eyes on him, he is upto the kind of mischief that gets lesser students expelled...as happens to Rohan and his gang of friends. Except Rohan doesnt really have much to go home to. He has a tyrannical father (Ronit Roy) who hasnt seen him in 8 years, and a quiet 6 year old brother Arjun, that he didnt even know he had. Rohan tries to do what his father wants him to do (work at his fathers steel plant while studying engineering)..but what Rohan really wants to do is to write. His poems and stories are quite extraordinary, but his father scoffs at his dreams, and has no trouble beating the dreams out of both of his sons. There is a sympathetic uncle Jimmy (Ram Kapoor) in the background, but really it is upto Rohan to figure out what he wants to do with his life, and who he wants to be....

My Take:

Its a simple story being told here. On the surface, Udaan is the story of a small town boy being forced to live the dreams of his fore fathers. But Udaan is so much more than just that because it is so true to life that it makes you weep. Its the story of a 17 year old who is forced to grow up before his time and realise that he will never be a child who is loved unconditionally.. Its the story of the coming of age of a young boy who realises that being a man is not about exerting power over others, but about the capacity to give and love.

Authentic and the real deal. Why I say that is that from Rohans time at his boarding school, to the griminess of Jamshedpur, to Rohan's brilliant writing, to the searingly raw portrayal of the father, to the vulnerable helplessness of the 6 year old Arjun, to the stunningly uplifting climax....EVERYTHING strikes the right chord. Each and every scene is beautiful and meaningful in its authenticity..but the one scene that made me weep was when Rohan outruns his father and has a beaming smile on his face, which vanishes the next minute when he realises that his father doesnt care enough about him to catch him....heartbreaking.

In terms of performances, I was stunned the most with Ronit Roy's blemishless portayal of the relentlessly harsh, punitive father. My God...can this man act or what! I though he was just a tv soap star, with a one note dramatic quality...but that is such an unfair assessment of his ability. The best part about his portrayal was that despite the fact that he is a monster, there are moments you actually feel sorry for the man. You know he is just as sinned against, as he is a sinner. I suppose that is the beauty of the story and characterisation as well as his acting. Rajat Barmecha in his debut film,was equally good as the all seeing, courageous young man who fights his way out of a dead end situation. Ram Kapoor is his usual likeable self..and the little 6 year old boy breaks your heart with his droopy shouldered silences...

Music by Amit Trivedi is brilliant as always and forms an able backdrop to the story. The real hero of Udaan is Vikramaditya Motwane, and I suppose Anurag Kashyap, for the brilliant story and screenplay.

I ask all of you who read my reviews to please watch this movie. There is a selfish reason behind my request though..the more people that watch this movie, the more people will appreciate it, the more movies like this will hopefully be made :)