Barah Aana: Watch it! review

Share

Raja Menon made his first feature film Bas Yun Hi in 2003. That was a thriller-comedy and a failure at box office. Now, after five years, he is back to the screen with another thriller-comedy, Barah Aana. Based in Dharavi, Mumbai's famous slum, this film pivots around Shuklaji's (played by Naseeruddin Shah) strange life as an officially dead man.What happens when your brothers claim your death and get a death-certificate issued from authorized signatories? What could happen when you turn up in your village one fine morning after that, and the brothers refuse to recognize you now that they are the owner of your properties? Beginning with a Kafkaesque situation, rest of the film unrolls somewhat predictably, with a single twist in the plot.

It is a film about three people's ambition, frustrations and hope, not to talk of camaraderie. An officially dead Shuklaji comes to Mumbai slum, takes a job as a car-driver, and gets neighbours like Aman (played by Arjun Mathur) and Yadav (Vijay Raaz). And three lives overlap in complex ways.

A film without a single song, it has two prospective heroines (around one hero - Aman.) Tannishtha Chaterjee plays a small but important role, while the other woman, Kate (Violante Placido), presents an interesting side to a young man's fantasies.

Three people having different goals and ambitions in life meet on some common platform. From there, the means of achieving the goals become common. However, all characters in this film are not properly etched out. While Shuklaji is given a proper background and a proper closure, we are never sure about Aman's goal in life (though his motives are very clear - to get the Italian woman, Kate, in his arms, preferable as wife.) Aman's background is not very clear also.

The third character is Yadav. He is the down-trodden fellow, the undermined one. But, he is who makes the vital decisions in the film. Yadav is given enough background through allusions. And at the end, there are hints as to where this character's path leads to.

This film follows the regular structure. Things fall efficiently in piece at the end. But, there are peculiar twists in the plot, and finally it reminds us of the age old Greek formula for epic and tragedy - Man writes his own history, but he can't write it the way he wants to. This film is about life and death, errors and circumstances, making choices and forced moves.

Priya Seth's cinematography is overall efficient.  The visual scheme of defining the principal faces in low light and shadows is well thought-of, but sometimes overdone. Most indoor scenes are too bluish (if night), or too high contrast (if day). Had that been avoided, the storytelling would have been probably better.

One liner for the prospective audience : go to watch it with a clear mind to have some fun (and popcorn, of course.) This film follows a classical comedy structure and is worth-watching at least once.

[rating:3.5]