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By Joginder Tuteja, December 24, 2008 - 11:23 IST
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Paresh Rawal, Irrfan Khan, Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon, Soha Ali Khan, Vijay Maurya
Director: Nishikant Kamat
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
THE FILM
Nishikant Kamat, the film's director, certainly knows what he wanted to tell his audience. His heart is in the right place, the messaging correct and the aim of his thought reaching out to a big audience laudable as well. The trouble however lies in the fact that the story, which he starts off with such gusto, doesn't really have in it to reach some kind of conclusion. No, one can't blame the director for that since for a theme like this, you actually can't have a 'conclusion' per se. Due to this very reason, when chapters start unfolding for Mumbai Meri Jaan, you start wondering how will it all tie up (if at all it has to be that way) and since that is hardly possible, the film doesn't turn out to be the case of a 'story being told'. Instead it comes across as a message (good intentions here) being conveyed and that's about it.
Mumbai Meri Jaan, as mentioned above, is well intentioned. However, it is only 30 minutes too long. One doesn't start counting minutes in the first one hour of the film. The characters of a cop and his subordinate (Paresh Rawal, Vijay Maurya), who have contrasting point of views of the system, a reporter and her finance (Soha Ali Khan, Sameer Dharmadhikari) having a clash over media ethics, a Hindu fanatic (Kay Kay Menon), a poor street vendor (Irrfan Khan) having a grudge against the society around him and an upper middle class working class man (Madhavan) who has been a witness to train blasts are established quite well. Each of them gets a fair deal by Nishikant Kamat and frankly, one isn't tempted to make choice of one story over another.
In fact each of them has at least one noteworthy scene to his/her credit in the film. Vijay Maurya ridiculing Paresh for his laidback attitude and latter just left standing still, Soha's cry in the morgue over the death of the person close to her, Kay Kay's visit to the house of a young man whom he suspects of being a terrorist, Irrfan Khan finding his own means of getting back at the society and Madhavan left shell shocked on the railway tracks - these are just some of the deftly handled sequences where Nishikant Kamat gets the best out of his actors. There are quite a few other scenes where Kamat shows that there would be many more films of his that would follow Mumbai Meri Jaan. Especially heart wrenching are the post-blast scenes which are not for the weak hearted and certainly not suitable for children.
However, it is the subject itself due to which last 30 minutes of the film go all over the place. Of course there is no way (and also no requirement) that all threads could be tied together. Due to this repetition starts dominating into the narrative and what you have already seen or understood is thrust on you again and again. In fact, one tends to exclaim that 'Bahaut ho gaya, we got it, now let's move on'! The finale, though enacted well by Paresh Rawal, again becomes so monotonous and long, that the impact made by the film gets diluted to a little extent. The attempt of bringing in instances from lives of all protagonists may just have been better handled.
Still, one can't ignore the fact that Mumbai Meri Jaan gives you back at least one thought when the end credits start rolling. And this thought is about life moving on, regardless of situations around us being not so perfect and desirable.
PACKAGING
Moser Baer makes an exception with this DVD as it packages it rather smartly in a paper and plastic case. It appears this exception is being made for the UTV catalogue, as evidenced in the DVD of A Wednesday a week back.
DURATION
The film's duration is 132 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES
The DVD doesn't come with any special features
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
PRICE
Rs. 99/=
CONCLUSION
'The Undying Spirit of Mumbai' - For long this phrase has been much used and advertised at numerous junctures. One hears this time and again during instances of emergency, whether it is blasts or floods or any other form of terror attack. Though in recent times, there has been debate around this phrase being more abused than used, an entire film Mumbai Meri Jaan only salutes this spirit.
 
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