DVD Reviews

MOVIE DETAILS

Cast: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, Saurabh Shukla, Chandan Sanyal, Sanjay Swaraj, Navni Parihar, Sunita, Jahangir Khan
Director: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan
Producer: Ketan Maru, Pulakesh Bhowmick

THE FILM

'Two men who are almost on a death bed coming together and sharing their experiences from the life that they lived outside the ICU' - This is how Staying Alive unfolds. An experimental film that does manage to hold your attention for those 90 odd minutes, this directorial effort by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan (who is also one of the lead protagonists in the film) thankfully doesn't get depressing or sorrowful despite a hospital setting. In fact what works are moments of light hearted humour as well as emotional nuggets that keep 'Staying Alive' stay engaging for most part of it.

The plot is established with introduction of Mahadevan who is suffering from his third heart attack and his wife (Sunita), who has ironically been used to such emergencies, knowing well that he would eventually come out of the danger zone again. On the other hand Navni Parihar, wife of a dreaded don (Saurabh Shukla) isn't as much as ease with her husband suffering his first heart attack. Moreover their son (Chandan Sanyal) is in a panic state as well since there is danger lurking even outside the hospital, what with his dad's rival (Jehangir Khan) trying to find a way to eliminate him.

Meanwhile, even as Mahadevan and Shukla battle it all out in the ICU, a relationship develops as former keeps his cool in the most adverse of situations while latter realizes that it wasn't worthy after all to keep fighting when all that mattered in life was 'staying alive'.

A simple story which is also a first for Bollywood, Staying Alive takes some time to get into the zone. While one waits for the conversations to kick-start between the lead protagonists, there is good time spent in the parallel track involving their respective wives who are going through some nervous times in the hospital corridors. It is expected that a film like this would take a verbose route but since one wanted to know more about how Mahadevan and Shukla would interact; the wait becomes a tad longer.

Thankfully the film picks up with both men opening their eyes and sharing their anecdotes. While Mahadevan does well as the man who has become a tad philosophical after his frequent encounters with death, Shukla brings in some good smiles with his all powerful and egoistic persona of a reigning don. For someone who just can't imagine to be kept confined in an ICU, he tries to throw his weight around as a don which brings in some funny moments.

There are also certain emotional moments shared between these men as they see each other trying to get better with passing time. There are ups and downs in their physical condition but again as a director, Mahadevan doesn't allow the proceedings to turn gloomy.

The epilogue in the film does get into the 'karmic zone' and one can sense what the writer intended to bring a closure to the story. However one just feels that it all becomes a tad too conventional and a better culmination could just have made Staying Alive a much more enjoyable and gripping experience.

DURATION

The film's duration is 89 minutes

SPECIAL FEATURES

- None

TECHNICAL DETAILS

- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles - English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo

PRICE

Rs. 199/=

CONCLUSION

A decent watch, it makes you look life a little more closely.