A "Crash"-like amalgamation of separate story threads involving different people living in the city of Mumbai, Mumbai Meri Jaan shows how different people from various walks of life are affected by bomb blasts on Mumbai commuter trains and their aftermath. Its main purpose is to highlight the fact that the veneer of cosmopolitan life that Mumbai prides itself on is really only held together by fragile threads that strain and break often when such terrorist attacks happen.
I really liked how the different characters that we follow in the course of the movie are forced to question their beliefs and assumptions about the city of Mumbai, and society in general in the aftermath of the bomb blasts. One disturbing aspect the film focuses on is how easy it is to raise the level of distrust between Hindus and Muslims - the two main religious groups in India. Via the character played by Kay Kay Menon, Mumbai Meri Jaan offers a very realistic, no-holds barred window into the sometimes paranoid mind of an average Hindu and his almost complete lack of trust in the patriotic intentions of his average Muslim brethren and the belief that Muslims are behind all terrorist attacks in India.
Other threads focus on themes which include the callousness and the lack of sensitivity of the mainstream media in its constant pursuit of the sensational, the internal struggles of an idealistic rookie beat cop trying to find his place within a corrupt law and order establishment, a poor family man trying to avenge his daily losses in the class war society inflicts on him daily and a techie slowly losing his faith in the ability of Indian society to keep him and his family safe and sound and considering greening pastures abroad. In the end though, all the characters mostly find consolation and redemption of sorts even though their personal journeys are somewhat painful and littered with more questions than answers.
Mumbai Meri Jaan is well directed. Weaving the parallel story threads into a coherent narrative is an extremely difficult job. Nishikant Kamat, not only does that wonderfully, he also does the details really well. There is a certain authenticity in depicting Mumbai and its people in ways that most other Hindi movies, to say nothing of movies by outsiders like Danny Boyle, have not been able to do right. And the acting is close to top notch by most everybody - with both veterans Paresh Rawal, who plays an experienced, worldly-wise cop partnering the conflicted rookie, and of course Kay Kay Menon essaying their roles brilliantly.
This is the kind of social commentary that is both relateable and entertaining. It is also thought provoking because it doesn't beat the audiences on their heads with simplistic, preachy messages like the Munnabhai series or 3 Idiots but instead places the onus on the characters to find their way out of tricky moral dilemmas. And because these characters are everyday people, perhaps it's a message for us folks to also find our own ways out of tough conundrums?
A definite must watch, especially for people of and from Mumbai.
(image from Yahoo India)
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