Saturday, January 10, 2009

Always a Mumbaikar
There is not a single hindi movie reviewed on this site till date. Till this. I want to place on record that in the year of tribulation of Mumbai, in a year where the financial crisis took the life out of Mumbai while the Taj attacks seared its soul, a movie called Mumbai Meri Jaan was released that captures all the poignancy and dichotomous character of Mumbai and Mumbaikars while clearly preceding both these incidents at the time of release/creation. There is the idealist whose notion of public transport and the greater Indian idiom is ripped apart. There is the policeman searching for meaning to his career on the day it concludes. There is the simple Hindu individual who represents all the communal suspicion and stereotyping that has become our norm rather than exception. There is the tea-seller from somewhere in South India, alienated by development and consumerism, who creates his own brand of protest. There is the journalist who becomes a soundbyte in her world of seeking soundbytes - a undifferentiated TRP source. In the end, the milieu will leave you stunned. There is so much this movie has captured through six characters. This is the soul of Mumbai - this pinpoints all the reasons why this potentially great city needs so much healing.

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