Y.M.I. Yeh Mera India

Few films have made me laugh as much as N Chandra's Yeh Mera India, and funny thing is, it's not even a comedy. A message movie that addresses everything that's wrong with our country -- from communal hatred and corruption in the system to the class divide and sexual harassment -- Yeh Mera India bites off way more than it can chew. Using a bunch of characters whose lives intertwine at some point, the film sheds light on the social evils that threaten to rock our great nation. Problem is, the acting's embarrassingly weak and the scenarios all exaggerated. Take that scene in which an oily call-centre owner (played by Rajit Kapur) celebrates an employee's birthday by ordering cake and gifts, then proceeds to molest her in full view of his cheering staff. Or the one in which a young fellow frustrated about his car just being stolen, vents his anger by vandalising a wall with thought-provoking graffiti. Even if there are some credible ideas floating around, director N Chandra struggles to put them forward in an accessible manner, resorting instead to convey them in a bombastic, over-the-top, and ultimately unconvincing style. What's more the solutions offered by the film to deal with the social evils it talks about are too simplistic and idealistic even. Talented actors like Seema Biswas, Anupam Kher and Rajpal Yadav are wasted in poorly developed parts, and by the end of the film you feel like you've bludgeoned on the head by a bunch of crazies. N Chandra's Yeh Mera India wants to make some important points, but sadly it doesn't have the skills. Watch it only if you have nothing else to do.

The experience of watching "Yeh Mera India" is pretty much akin to reading the morning newspaper over a cup of tea. The format is divided like the sections of the newspaper dealing with issues that affect our lives in some way or another. It also depicts the various sections/ strata of the society we are living in. Yes, it should be aptly titled as "N. Chandra Times". The narrative format is similar to "Life in a Metro", with every character linked.

Without giving away too much about the storyline, simply said Day-1 is an insight into the life in metro, Mumbai and Day-2 is redemption, retrospection and hope. There is everything for everyone and perhaps even more.

In terms of performance, everybody is absolutely spot on. There are some heavy-weights and stalwarts in there managing a great ensemble.

N. Chandra the director - he is the same who made Ankush, Tezaab and Narasimha and for reason unknown had middle-age crisis resulting in the "lesser-talked-the-better" movies in between. With "Yeh Mera India" he roars and conquers what he had lost. A word of advice, RGV's the forte is underworld, Madhur Bhandarkar - its documentary-style narrative. You should do what you are good at and make this type of movies as your genre.

Yeh mera India is probably the most underdog film that I have known, to have been released in India. I watch the movie via one of the DVD's given by my friend and I found the movie exceptionally good.

Direction and Screenplay: All credits in story, screenplay and direction go to S. Chandra. He is responsible for such sensible casting and pleasing narration. Parallel stories with such dramatization always come as pleasant experience.

Cinematography: There's not much to say about cinematography. Its drama that has been filmed in bollywood, so some colors go along. It comes as nice experience.

Tone: It falls under A1 category within the range of this type of movies, by the range I mean the movie with various parallel stories.

Music: Music is average

Acting: The life of any drama movie is the acting of actors involved in it. One does mostly get good acting awards for the drama movie in which they have acted. I liked the acting in following order Rajpal Yadav, Sayaji Shinde - Anupam Kher - Atul Kulkarni, Seema Biswas - Veerendra Saxena.

I saw this movie long after it actually released, had to watch it on DVD. But, this movie has got the power to hold you till the end. All the characters are perfectly casted and well portrayed. All the credits to N.Chandra for making a superb effort. He is a brilliant director and a narrator. My warm regards to you Sir. Talk about Anupam khers character or Rajpal yadav's simple role of a person coming to Mumbai in search of some work, All characters were very real and the movie was far better in the approach than typical Hindi movies. The message of hope was conveyed brilliantly. I would suggest all to get the DVD from the nearest shop and make it a mandatory viewing.

Released with the least possible promotional campaign,"Yeh Mera India" showed the glimpses of its powerful content in the promos itself. And as promised it thankfully delivers a quality product with many thoughtful sequences, questioning the social double standards of our society. In other words, it is the most important movie of 2009 since it talks about some burning issues and forces the viewer to think about his life and the actions he might have taken in the similar situations.

It belongs to the same genre of movies which talk about different inter-connected stories in a collective manner, as seen earlier in "Firaaq", "Mumbai Meri Jaan", "Metro", "Crash" (Eng) and more. The style may seem to be a bit repetitive, but it's the quality of the content which makes the movie appreciable and worth watching. It intelligently starts with a T.V. News highlighting the major incidents occurred during a particular day and then takes you back into a series of flashbacks giving the detailed accounts of each incident individually.

In the initial moments, it may seem to be a deliberate attempt by the director but as the stories develop, you start relating to them easily. The first half builds a clean ground for all the characters interlinked with each other. And as you are well familiar with the plots, it takes you into an explosive second half where every story is fast moving towards its own boiling point. In few words, the post interval proceedings turn the movie into a solid commendable effort by both its writer and the director.

The well written script, surrounding a complex web of relationships, touches almost every important social issue of the current times. It talks about communal hatred among the people, class differences in the society, rich exploiting industrialists, gangster's extortion mafia, Jihaadi Movement in the country, misguided younger generation, mean political leaders, TRP driven channels, Migration problems in the Metros, Muslims Denied Flats in Mumbai, Profit motives of the Hospitals, Medical Negligence by the Doctors and also the Spiritual Heritage of our country.

It may seem impossible to incorporate all the above mentioned plots in one movie alone, but director N. Chandra remarkably performs this tough task and that too with a great conviction and class. He is back in form again roaring like a lion with his own specialized genre of movies based on intense social problems. Chandra brilliantly handles each individual story with an equal importance and makes you feel the pain felt by all his character simultaneously. The hard hitting and impactful execution by the director leaves a solid impact on the viewer as he walks out of the theater.

Not going into details of each storyline, I would like to mention the most beautiful and important sub-plot of the movie involving a doctor, a judge and a victim harmed by the Medical Negligence of his doctor. The story teaches us the art of forgiving in a very pleasing manner. It explains the real meaning of the word empathy and its importance in our gifted short lives. I don't remember any other movie talking about this subject in a more expressive way than "Yeh Mera India". So, among all the other sub-plots, I rate this particular part of the movie as the most impressive and well directed one having the power to stay in your minds for long.

Talking about the performances, you can feel the heart and soul put in by all the actors performing in the movie. Thinking about each story individually you remember every single actor giving one of the best acts of his career including the veterans Anupam Kher, Rajat Kapoor and Seema Biswas. N. Chandra has splendidly extracted worth praising performances from his entire star-cast including the ones playing their minuscule roles. Though there are certain characters that tend to go over the top at times, but still it creates a good overall impact collectivley. The song less movie also gets well supported by its soothing Background Score, fine Cinematography and crisp to the point editing.

Another worth mentioning ace is the use of "Urdu Shayri Couplets" incorporated with a background voice over, after every important incident in the movie. The deep meaning of the few lines spoken at an appropriate time, increase the overall impact of a sequence to many folds. (However the selection of the couplets could be a lot more inspiring.) So, if you love the thought of living together as brothers, if you can feel the importance of the remaining years of your life and if you believe in sharing what you have in your possession, then "Yeh Mera India" will surely make you feel much better. The movie is not only about India alone, but it is about every country existing on the globe facing problems. It talks more about the concept of Universal Brotherhood and the urgency to understand its need in the current times. On merit basis, as it was "Mumbai Meri Jaan" in 2008, there is "Yeh Mera India" in 2009. Just go for it now!