AATH AANA!

FILM: Barah Aana (2009)
CAST: Naseruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz, Arjun Mathur
DIRECTOR: Raja Menon





After coming to know that everyone else in my class had gone to the movies to celebrate the end of exams, I had become desperate to do so too.This quest led me to the doors of this movie.Sitting all alone with a friend in a neraly complete empty theater( this was not a reflection on the movie...actually it was 11 in the morning on a Monday) with my legs propped up on the seat in front, I watched the movie screen come to life.

The story goes something like this. Shukla(Naseerudin Shah) discovers that he has officialy been declared dead due to a series of misfortunes(This part may have no significance now but holds the key to the end). He moves to Mumbai to work as a driver and lives in the slums of Dharavi. Yadav(Vijay Raaz) is a watchman who is trodden over and abused to the limit and then beyond it. And he has no choice but to bear it for the sake of his family who are solely dependent on him for their existence. Aman( Arjun Mathur)- Yadav's room-mate is a waiter at a swanky restaurant. He crushes in a on Italian girl who unkown to him lives her life by selling drugs.The plot shows it face when Yadav receives a phone call informing him that back home money's needed for treatment of his child.

Unable to procure the money properly he turns to trickery due to a completely unseen turn of events. Enticed by the power, he coerces Aman and threatens Shukla to continue the "business". The conclusion of this whacky adventure is the best part of the movie. Add along a side track of romance between Aman and the beautiful Italian (Violante Placido) onlyn for him to be finally betrayed, you have a classic paani puri to be eaten. But sadly, I found the movie all paani and not much puri.

Now, the movie is not all that bad . In fact I had really liked the start and the end. But unforunately, that was it. Sure, certain moments provided amusement but nothing that kept you going along with the story.Over the years oppression of the poor/ helpless has been quite a hot topic with film makers. Sensationalisation along with some fantasy has led to this giving us several hits.

The biggest surprise for me was Vijay Raaz . He played his role with such sincerity...I truly say that this is his best performance till date. Arjun Mathur has done very good for a debut film although I felt he was trying too hard. Naseeruddin Shah is the cherry on the top! I've now come to expect nothing but the best from this man.
If I liked the acting so much, then what problem did I have with the movie you may ask. Frankly, for me, it was the implementation of the script.It truly left much to be desired.
But none the less, this film is truly timepass material- say for an afternoon weekend while lying in bed at home with hot samosas and a botlle of Pepsi. The originality of the script makes me give another half star...Its not the best, but its a start.


- Karthik Krishna

(For the first time on The Soaham Blog, we have a guest writer. Just wait and watch readers, there will be many new surprises coming for you. Karthik Krishna is an year junior to me, but has a tremendous writing flare and good insight on movies. He would be co-writing on this blog from today, Barah Aana is his debut! Lets all give him the warmest welcome to The Soaham Blog.)

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