REVIEW: Udaan (3)

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

We're living in times when kids kill themselves because they got caned at school. We grew up in times when parents encouraged teachers who 'do whatever necessary' to keep us toeing the line. We were hit on knuckles with a 'ruler' and made to kneel outside the principal's office. So when the four boys get caught we settle down to go on a nostalgia trip. We start to empathise with the boy who wants to be a writer but has to deal with a dad who says, 'You had better not dream of flying, you'll fall flat on your face. Stay grounded. It is a better option.'

Now we all hated out dads who practised what they preached. They went to Engineering college and worked for the government for the rest of their lives simply because that was the only option they had. They too were toeing the line. So Ronit Roy comes across as just that dad. And he's hateful. Because he also has a drinking 'thing' and has produced another kid who is growing up scared, and abused, calling his dad, 'Sir'. So hateful you want to get up and slap him (hats off to him and the first time director for a superior job!)

So you have a lump or two or three when you see confrontations between father and son, the slow but steady growing relationship between the half brothers and then you begin to expect the story to move forward.

Shot in Jamshedpur, the film is flavored perfectly. But it's not enough. We know the hero is a young lad, and is not going to make all good or all bad choices. But this is where the film falls flat on its face. We enjoy watching the young boy blossom into a wild child (stealing his dads car, money from the wallet, smoking and drinking at a bar, befriendng seniors, enjoying bar brawls, and even destroying his father's car). But we don't see him do anything positive. Yes, he tells stories in an engaging manner, but then what?

Suddenly you lose sympathy for the young chap. Poetry and writerly ambition is fine, but he seems to be doing nothing (his other friends tell him what they started doing with their lives) but sulk. At some point one began to see why the father said, 'Before you fly learn to walk.'

Yes the father seems like a loser, but you begin to empathize with the man and his many burdens. And he is man enough to apologize to the kids. How many people do that? But the director wants the kid to be the 'hero' and drags his feet trying to get to point where the boy gets a chance to defy his father.

I began to see the words 'The End' flash before my eyes (especially when the boy finally overtakes the father in the run and the father, defeated, turns back) but noooooooo.... the director drags the story for another fifteen minutes and offers the two kids freedom but seems to say, 'no matter what happens, at least they are free of the dad.'

Now that's not what you want to come away with. 

Maybe kids are being stifled even today, and you find yourself wishing there was a 'refresh' button on the storyline.