Udaan

I believe Anurag Kashyap is one of the greatest directors of today, and Udaan is a story well scripted but poorly directed. And therefor Kashyap is not the one to blame. Let me be very clear that I don’t judge films by moral values or message, a reason people may quote for disliking Udaan. My reasons are purely cinematic.

While the film is wonderfully scripted, edited and cinematographed; the show stealer of the film remains its awe-inspiring music. Amit Trivedi is undoubtedly the next Rahman Indian cinema has to offer. With the soundtrack of DevD, Udaan and the more recent ‘No one killed Jessica’, Amit has proved his mettle time and again! On a personal note, since I am from Jharkhand and completely in love with my place, I loved the familiar scenes from Jamshedpur. It was a treat to watch!

However, I have several reasons for not liking the film. Firstly, unlike Kashyap’s style, there were many scenes which were begging to me to sympathize with the protagonist. I am still assuming that Kashyap’s script was good and director Motwane couldn’t do justice with it. I wouldn’t have been disappointed if Karan Johar or Yash Chopra would have tried a tear jerker, but Kashyap and his associates should belong to a league of their own.

Secondly, I found that this film has three aspect to ponder. The protagonist’s relationship with his younger brother, his relationship with friends, and his terms with his father. While the first two aspects were realistic, the character of his father (played by Ronit Roy) lacked realism. Or shall I call it ‘exceptional realism’? The father was outright evil. Fathers like him don’t occur in places like Jharkhand. If the film was set in New York, I wouldn’t have complained. Moreover, the film lacked progression, character highlighting and surrealism, something that Kashyap’s earlier films were known for.

I give it 6/10.

Do you differ?