User Reviews

We finally have a winner, folks. After 8 months into a decidedly lacklustre year for Bollywood ("Aamir" being the only really good movie in a year populated by the Races, Sinngh is Kinngs and Bachna Ae Haseenos), we have "Mumbai Meri Jaan", the first GREAT film of 2008. Directed by the immensely talented Nishikant Kamat – the man who made the superlative Marathi feature "Dombivili Fast" – this is a beautifully made, kaleidoscopic portrait of aamchi Mumbai limping back to normalcy after the 7/11 serial bomb blasts two years ago.

Nishikant Kamat deserves a big pat on his back for scripting and directing this feature with a lot of heart and a lot of vigour. India's answer to the Oscar-winning "Crash", this one features a multithreaded storyline consisting of common Mumbai citizens – from Kay Kay Menon's Suresh, an out-of-work computer salesman who is mistrustful of the Muslim community to R. Madhavan's Nikhil Aggarwal, an idealistic corporate yuppie, who shuns "the better life" abroad to stay in his own country and improve it. On the other hand we have Roopali Joshi (Soha Ali Khan), a maverick journalist for a leading TV news channel, for whom the tragedy becomes personal when she finds out her fiancé also died in the blasts, and who, once perpetrator, finds herself an exploited victim of the merciless fourth estate.

Paresh Rawal, in one of his greatest performances – on par with himself in Ketan Mehta's "Sardar" – plays Tukaram Patil, an aging cop due for retirement, prone to spouting out philosophy and humour in the same breath. Under his wing is rookie cop Sunil Kadam (Vijay Maurya), seething with self-righteous, idealistic rage at corruption and apathy, and also because his honeymoon got cancelled thanks to the bomb blasts. And last, we have Irrfan Khan as a Madrasi coffee vendor struggling to make ends meet and to attain status and respect in a city where money talks. He learns about how fear and panic can be generated instantly – and all it costs is a rupee.

The writing is fabulous. It is a very, very rare Hindi film that does not sound scripted. Listening to the characters in this movie talk is like listening to conversations taking place in the local train, or in the table next to you at a restaurant. The characterization is precise; each character looks like and sounds like the character he or she is, and nobody lives in outlandish bungalows or drives fancy cars (Indeed, Madhavan's Nikhil spends much of his time convincing everyone why he prefers commuting by train instead of buying a car, which he can obviously afford.) The dialogue is crisp, infused with sarcastic, deadpan humour and is really worth listening to. Each line of it. How long has it been since we've had a movie like that?

Mercifully, aside from the Kay Kay Menon track – and it's done in a subtle manner there, too – Kamat avoids playing around too much with the done-to-death Hindu-Muslim rivalry and communal and political overtones. What is shown instead, is a more realistic slice-of-life where the day after the blasts, the only thing Mumbaikars were worried about was how to travel in the train and beating the early morning rush. We see Suresh struggling to resolve fundamental conflicts - he needs money but refuses to take a lucrative order for a company owned by a Muslim. Roopali, a ruthless journo, is exploited by her own news channel for a story dealing with her personal loss. It's a sharp critique of the media and their wanton abandonment of ethics as they cash in on the tragedy – remember the Aarushi case recently? – and Kamat handles it well. If it seems like a caricature, one must remember that T.V. news channels are just that nowadays.

Mumbai Meri Jaan also boasts of excellent cinematography by Sanjay Jadhav, and a very good background score by Sameer Phaterpekaris which is extremely apt, despite being a trifle over-orchestrated. The editing is laser-sharp, cutting back and forth between the several story lines in a manner that is coherent and yet paces the film well. But the real star is the direction. Nishikant Kamat proves his mettle as one of the brightest new talents out there. Meticulous attention to detail and some brilliant shots (I loved the one where Vijay Maurya goes out of the police station and stands in the rain – very Janusz Kaminiski-like) make this one of the most brilliantly directed films in ages.

It has National Award written all over it.

If I must nitpick, I could grumble about the shockingly shoddy special effects depicting the train blast. But I won't, for two reasons. One, because it's a well known fact that movies like MMJ are made on budgets which are roughly a third of, say, two songs from any given Yash Raj film. Secondly, it was about 30 seconds long and I didn't feel that the impact had been diluted at all.

And finally, what can one say about a cast that already looks so great on paper? This is the ensemble performance of the year with everyone giving at least career-best performances. Kay Kay, Madhavan and Soha Ali Khan are brilliant, Vijay Maurya is stunning, and Paresh Rawal reaffirms his status as one of the greatest actors in this country (no thanks to Priyadarshan for wasting him in mindless comedies). But the scene-stealer is none other than the chameleon-like Irrfan Khan. In a role where he doesn't have too much screen time, very little dialogue (much of it in Tamil), Irrfan is heart-breakingly good, conveying everything through his eyes. Is there a more versatile character actor than him today? Doubtful.

I conclude with two words. Tax-Free. NOW.

I was apprehensive of watching this movie. I mean, I read that it got favorable reviews in newspapers et al, but still I had super commercial movies, like Singh is Kinng and Bachna ae Haseeno, still pending to see and here I am spending 210 bucks on a movie which might turn out to be an "art movie".

But, voilà!! was I surprised!! Right from the first 15 minutes till the end (where Paresh Rawal delivers a stunning depiction of Mumbai-- mind it, stunning not because of the difficult usage of some flowery words, but stunning because of its simplicity), the movie completely had me mesmerized.

Whether it is Kay Kay Menon's eccentric hatred towards minority or Soha's time to be on the receiving side of the table (watch out for the extremely satirical portrayal of our current TV News channels); whether it is Irrfan Khan's portrayal of an utterly poor person who is eyed with suspicion by everyone or whether it is Madhawan's shaking of ideals..the movie scores in every department. But, its Paresh Rawal (who after ages of getting mindless roles like Phir Hera Pheri et al) gets a worthy role where he effortlessly essays the "spirit of mumbai..Immune!!" The movie is real, genuine, honest, maybe slow (to let the events sink in), heart wrenching and a satire of our current thinking systems.

Given 10/10 because coming something out of "Bollywood", it's commendable. An advice: Better send a movie like this to Oscars rather than sending a crap like Eklavya!

Nishikant Kamat, after watching his second film....... I would definitely suggest watching out for his films.....

About this film, it is one of the most beautifully written film. And kudos to Nishikant for keeping it so simple yet making it so intense. None of the characters of this film would seem superficial. The writer/director has captured the elements of the society with so much sensitivity that you are touched by each and every one of them. He has shown so many complicated situations to portray that its not the people, its the situation that brings the worst in a person and then at the end all the comraderie patches all shaky spirits among people and this is what keeps Mumbai moving and also the movie..... Every scene, every character has a meaning, a message.

Madhavan has excelled as ever, no questions about Irfan, K K Menon, Paresh rawal and Soha Ali khan..... All perfect portrayal..... Even the not so known actors have excelled...... It happens very rarely where each actor is part of one perfect product....... And I can without doubt say that this is surely one of them....... There are so many moments that will remain etched for a long long time........ My favorite scenes are when Paresh Rawal picks up KK Menon in his van. The fear in Madhavan's face when he has to take trains again...... Soha's interview....... KK Menon's last scene in the restaurant........ Irfan khan's flowers scene.........I can just keep writing and end up writing about all the scenes :)....... I will stop here though :) And to top it all the way the movie ends is so stylistically simple.... Again a perfect score...... Yeh hai Mumbai meri jaan....

There are some disturbing scenes, obviously because it involves blasts.. So just be prepared....... But believe me the characters will move you more than that..........

Even though the movie is Mumbai meri Jaan, it could apply to any city of any country. I wish this becomes an official Indian movie selection in all festivals. A must watch for everybody........

Lets get one thing straight.

This movie is about terrorism...but it is not patriotic. In the second half it very subtly (without any heavy handed drama) points out that terrorism is a global threat, against which we have to stand united and also be ready to accept any collateral damage that is bound to come our way.

The story consists of 5 mini sub-plots about how the "11 Jul 06 train Blasts" affected the lives of the key characters of the film.

The strongest point of the story is the "Character Arc" it gives to each of the 6 key characters. Each character travels from one end of the spectrum to the other throughout the course of the movie, causing a substantial change in their personality and mentality.

MUMBAI MERI JAAN touches your heart, without getting preachy and without displaying Bollywood's trademark animated jingoism. Certain scenes leave their mark even after you have exited the theater.

Noteworthy are:

The actual shot of the blast & the way numbers 7 & 11 are displayed on the screen.

Soha's interview outside the hospital & the story made on her tragedy by a news channel.

Irrfan's visit to Centre One mall.

Kay Kay's "conversion" scene near the end.

Madhavan's conversation with his friend about USA being "Safe".

The finale of the movie & ALL SCENES FEATURING PARESH RAWAL.

Relatively new director, Nishikant Kamat, extracts stellar performances from his cast. The critics will have a tough time choosing "Best Supporting Actors" nomination cause Irrfan, Kay Kay and R Madhavan have provided flawless performances. But one actor stands above all else, be it his jokes, or his advice to Kay Kay about trying to stop the "Chain", or his speech in the end. Paresh gives one of his best performances till date. His HAWALDAR TUKARAM PATIL will be remembered for decades to come just like his BABURAO APTE.

Special mention for the dialogs of this movie... realistically penned they hit bulls eye, and you will find people cheering and clapping to most of them.

Not that this movie is perfect, many questions are left unanswered. What happened to Kay Kay's money lender? What about Madhavan's wife? apart from these loose ends the movie also feels a bit long in certain sections where the story moves slowly. But all these flaws are minor.

One of the best movie to come out in 2008, it might not have the same emotional impact on audiences of other cities. But it will form an emotional bond with Mumbai crowd. A must watch for all Mumbaikars.

Mumbai, India is a tough place. Not only is it one of the largest cities in the world, but they've had a ton of terrorist killings there over the last couple decades. Three times in recent years they've had terrorist attacks in which 170 or more people were killed. This film is about one particular attack--the one in 2006 in which 209 were killed coordinated train bombings. You see not only some of the attack (which is VERY bloody, realistic and frightening), but how the attack affects a select group of disparate people. How these separate stories all work together remind me of a couple other exceptional films--"Traffic" and "Crash".

One man normally rides in first class, but today he rides in second to discuss a business deal. The bomb detonates where he WOULD have sat and the bomb causes him to fall apart emotionally--which is certainly no surprise.

A hot-shot female reporter makes a living out of exploiting others' pain. Early in the film, she even asks a woman, obviously in pain, how she feels!! Well, this ends up biting her back, as her fiancé is one of the men killed--and soon her coworkers are pecking at her like vultures on a fresh corpse! A Hindu man is mad. He hates Muslims and KNOWS these two guys he often sees are among those responsible for the bombings. There is no logic to this, as the city's largest minority is Muslim and surely he can't KNOW--but he's angry and looking for revenge.

The local police are disliked and known for their corruption. One of them in particular, a man about to retire, is having doubts about his career and how the force treats folks--innocent or not.

While at first it seems to have nothing to do with the bombings, a man is with his family when he is, rather nastily, tossed out of the mall. He's mad...and wants to hurt these people. So, he calls in a bomb threat soon after the terrorist attacks--and panic grips the patrons at the mall. One has a heart attack in the scurry to exit the place--and the crank caller cannot live with the guilt.

It is very surprising that given the prevalence of terrorism and the sheer numbers of folks impacted by it that so few films have been made which address this. I also was pleasantly surprised to see the film connect the Mumbai killings with the 9/11 massacre in New York. After all, the message is that we are all in this together! All in all, an exceptional film that I give kudos for many reasons. It's brave and very insightful--and is very well written and acted. In particular, several times you see actors playing VERY tough scenes--with lots of tough emotional scenes--very, very tough ones. And, bringing all these story elements together was not easy--the director did a nice job eliciting great performances AND keeping it all coherent and compelling. This is one of the better Indian films I have seen and recommend it wholeheartedly. Not your typical Bollywood picture.

I went for the show on Friday itself... the day it was released... in my mind was just the cast of the movie (Can't miss a movie with Irrfan and Kay Kay together). Heard the first lines from the people coming out of the show as "Din kharab kar diya" (wasted my day), "koi aur dekh li hoti" (should have seen some other movie) and many more comments like that. At that very moment I knew that the movie is going to (bound to be) excellent. (my taste do not easily match with the general crowd, I mean I can't tolerate the masala flicks and senseless comedies that are their choice. I mean there are thousands of excellent movies with original content and message, why should somebody watch something that is publicly termed as senseless)

As I had thought earlier, the movie was beyond comparison to most of the bollywood movies. The perfect cast Irrfan Khan, Kay Kay Menon, Paresh Raval, Shoha Ali khan and Mahadevan which fitted quite simply yet fully into their roles. The direction and the perfect proportion of movie given to each person made their characters develop fully, actually you can even relate to every character in some way.

The most touching part of the movie was the last 15 minutes. The simple yet powerful words of Paresh Raval somehow made me think all night. The time when the screen was silent and Pareh Raval spoke the time seen to stop for a while and then as the music started, the movie had already made a mark.

Just like every other of his movies, Irrfan is apt to the role. Sometimes I think that the width of the type of roles in which he can fit in are endless. Even if he do not speak a word in the movie his acting would be applauded, may be because his whole body language says a lot, may be just his eyes say a lot. The perfect example of this is in this movie, few dialogs and still the best of acting. Hats off to you....

Kay Kay menon, from the time i first saw him in a serial where he was a minister (sorry don't remember the name), I wished that somebody in bollywood should make a movie with him, at least the level of acting in our industry will soar up. Then I saw him in Hazaaroin Khwahishein Aisi, one of the best movies ever seen by me, and the central character as Kay Kay. In this movie also he is at his best. No flaws, no regrets, the perfect Kay Kay.

In fact even being one of it's kind movies, Mumbai Meri Jaan has been inspired by Magnolia (1999). The way the lives of people are seen and then seeing the bad times of their life's, where people can make mistakes. The basic idea of Mangnolia and somewhat the end of the movie had a definite influence on Mumbai Meri Jaan.

Summing up, on of the best movies I have seen in bollywood. A must watch for anyone who like to use their minds and emotions to a meaningful cinema.