From the house of Vishal Bhardwaj
Production comes another gem; this
time a 'children's movie for adults'
as the tag line goes. While Makdee was
intriguing and scary, Omkara and
Maqbool made you sit up bolt
upright--Blue Umbrella leaves you with
a genuine smile on your face.
Blue
Umbrella is a simple story set in an
unknown village in the mountains of
Himachal Pradesh. Biniya (Shreya
Sharma), a little girl who lives with
her brother, and a strict mother, is
loved and feared by everyone since her
brother is a champion pahelwaan. She
doesn't have much to amuse herself
with, apart from her village pals and
the local school. One day, while
wandering in the mountains, she finds
a blue umbrella, and is mesmerized by
it. (This shot is filmed so
beautifully, that it's almost poetry).
It belongs to some Japanese tourists
who give it to Biniya in exchange for
her lucky charm, a bear claw locket.
Nandkishore Khatri (Pankaj Kapoor) is
a whimsical, miserly owner of a rustic
tea stall, with a taste for pickles,
and often indulges in chasing errant
kids, and is ribbed constantly by his
cunning and wily servant and sidekick,
Rajaram.
Biniya proudly displays her new found
love all around the village, with the
other kids in tow. The umbrella
captivates the whole village and
nearly everyone, young and old alike
are gripped by envy. Nandkishore who
is totally captivated by the umbrella,
tries desperately to buy it off her,
luring her with chocolates, biscuits,
balloons, and even cash, but to no
avail. It is then that Rajaram
suggests something that gets
Nandkishore thinking.
The umbrella goes missing, and Biniya
immediately suspects Nandkishore. But
even after the police raid
Nandkishore's house nothing is found.
Nandkishore is distraught and
shamefaced, and swears he shall not
touch pickles, until he has gets
himself an umbrella, just like
Biniya's, which will cost him rupees
twenty five hundred.
The story unfolds at a slow, steady
pace, like most stories set in the
mountains, but I was far from bored. I
was too busy taking in the stunning
cinematography, and putting myself in
the shoes of each and every character.
Nandkishore, true to his word,
acquires a similar red umbrella, and
struts proudly around with Rajaram as
the Chhata bearer. Biniya goes into
her own shell, losing sleep, and
fantasizing about her beloved lost
blue umbrella.
What follows, is a beautiful display
of camerawork, cinematography, and
emotions, which you have to experience
in a cinema hall and not on a DVD. The
DVD is to be owned, of course, when it
comes out. Pankaj Kapoor has yet again
shown why he is the best actor, of all
times. He is funny, sad, cunning,
mischievous, and hapless at the same
time. Also, like he does in all his
other movies, he gets the dialect and
the accent just right (Remember him in
the totally forgettable Dus?)
He picks up all the Himachali village
mannerisms, becomes Nandkishore, the
tea stall owner, and reaches out to
you from across the screen. The
chemistry between him and Biniya is
funny at times, but largely
bittersweet, and often brings tears to
your eyes, without being melodramatic.
Shreya Sharma is a convincing young
actor, a far cry from the
dipped-in-honey-I-am-SO-cute-and-obnoxious-kids
from K-Jo or YashRaj films. Her role
demands her to be a little brooding,
and somewhat mature, a little
obstinate, and she does as much
justice to her role, as the other kids
did in Makdee. She is a delight to
watch.
The entire cast of Blue Umbrella does
a marvelous job. Almost all the actors
are locals, save for a few familiar
faces from Doordarshan. The actors
were handpicked for their bit parts,
and it shows. No squeaky clean
dresses, colored turbans in this
movie. The entire film is shot in the
breathtakingly beautiful backdrop of
the Himachal mountains by
Sachin.K.Krishin (from the stylish
Vastushastra), and the man knows how
to play with mountains and snow.
Gulzar's music, on the other hand,
transforms you back to the 'jungle
jungle baat chali hai, pata chal hai'
days. The title track Tesoo, tickles
you with lyrics like "Gai ki poonch pe
dhaan ugao" and "Poonch badi ki moonch
badi", and is filmed equally
wonderfully. All the songs in the
movie are beautiful, including the
background score. The dialogues too,
although written by Vishal Bhardwaj
and Abhishek Chaubey, sound as though
Gulzar was the inspiration behind
them.
Made on a shoe-string budget, Blue
Umbrella takes you by surprise, by the
simplicity of the story, and the
powerful narration. The entire time I
was watching the movie, I was there in
Himachal and I got a bit of a shock
when I finally came out of the cinema
hall in a Bombay mall. This movie, is
definitely not to be missed, by one
and all! Please do watch it, and
recommend it to as many as you can. I,
in the meanwhile, will try to get it
an Oscar.
