Directed by the first-timer Vikramaditya Motwane (writer of Dev D), Udaan is a compelling movie. The director daftly handles the simplistic plot, giving it a fresh and convincing treatment. The screenplay, though a little tentative at a couple of places, is very taut, engaging and refreshing. But more than the direction and screenplay, two things that lift this simplistic script to such a high level, are the characters and music of the movie. Ronit Roy sweeps you off your feet as an abusive, frustrated and violent father. This surely is coming-of-age for an actor so far typecast in some creepy saas-bahu soaps on the small screen. Ronit breathes life into the character by his stellar performance. Rajat Barmecha, as a seventeen year old boarding school-returned boy, struggling to give voice to his personality under an abusive father, is excellent. Arjun, Rohan’s step kid-brother, played by Aayan Boradia, is cute to the hilt. With Rohan’s dislike for the kid, the relationship between the two brothers starts off as cold but soon matures into a loving and caring one. With both of them suffering at the hands of their father, they find unspoken comfort in their relationship. The chemistry between the two is outright adorable. Music of Udaan, composed by the talented and much-in-demand Amit Trivedi, is another high point of the movie. Backed by compelling and inventive lyrics, the music lifts up the tempo of the movie from time to time.
Apart from its cinematic high points, the movie also comes across as a slightly disturbing one, throwing up some pertinent yet unsettling questions about society and the human psyche. The scenes in which Rohan’s abusive father burns up his book in which he has fondly penned down his poems and stories or the one in which little Arjun has to be admitted to a hospital after being beaten black and blue by his father, are very disquieting. The movie paints a disturbing picture of things and events that a normal household would take for granted viz. the unnatural childhood of kids who are brought-up without mothers, or the personality development of kids having abusive and violent parents. For those of us who have not witnessed any of these, the movie comes as a timely excuse to thank our stars.
The initial plot and treatment, especially the music would remind you of Rockford, but Udaan is a far more mature, complete and compelling piece of cinema. While Rockford was about the boy rediscovering himself in the environs of a boarding school, Udaan goes beyond that. Udaan is a beautiful little story about the struggle of an individual’s freedom and self worth against oppression of an abusive father. It is a cute, confident and intense piece of cinema – go for it!
Rating: 3.5/5
