Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (2005)

Director:

Jahnu Barua

Writers:

Jahnu Barua (screenplay)
Sanjay Chauhan (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 September 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Widowed Uttam Chaudhary lives a comfortable lifestyle with his college-going son, Karan, a daughter...

Plot Keywords:

Brother Sister Relationship | Alzheimer's Disease | Voice Over | College | Disappearance

Cast

Anupam Kher	...	Uttam Chaudhury
Urmila Matondkar	...	Trisha Chaudhury
Parvin Dabas	...	Siddharth
Rajit Kapoor	...	Ronu
Sudhir Joshi
Ram Mohan Sharma
Raju Kher
Ashok Pandit
Vishwaas Paandya
Divya Jagdale	...	Nanda (Housemaid)
Boman Irani	...	Public Prosecutor
Addi	...	Karan Chaudhury
Prem Chopra
Waheeda Rehman	...	Principal Khanna
Nazneen Ghani

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

India

Company:

Curtain Call Co.

Fine Human Drama

What happened to our mainstream Hindi cinema at last? One after other it is coming out with excellent and diverse themes never dealt before. Wow ! When FTII-alumni, internationally renowned Assamese film maker Jahnu Barua and Anupam P. Kher as producer-lead actor comes together, you expect a result to be of very high value. Yes, it is, as what starts off as a touching tale about a Retd. College lecturer (Anupam Kher) who falls prey to Alzheimer disease and how the lives of everybody around him get affected ends on a very topical note of ignorance of values in today's world, very subtly. This is the second feature film in Hindi of Jahnu Barua who directed another one called Apekshaa (1984) though almost all his films are in Assamese and also based in soil there. There are some amazing performances viz. Anupam Kher and also Urmila Matondkar who is quite restrained here. More than anything this film succeeds in making any layman realize and empathize to deal with somebody close whom this disease affects. This film qualifies for select audience, as it is devoid of any of those rubbish commercial elements of forced romance and songs, hero-heroine track or inconsequential sub-plots but come across as very honest film with more substance than style. Bappi Lahiri surprised with his background score. The film has no political overtones as the title suggests but a human story. The problem? Well the story is too simplistically told so much so that to pack it in duration of 1.45 hr, the pace slows down, as the events are not too many. Also, it would be better if it covered more of the disease part and treatment part but of course that was not the focus of the film. The drama in the staged part of the courtroom also lacks that required punch. Nonetheless it put across the message very clearly and aptly and thus succeeds without taking a road to melodramatic Indian ethos or art house cinema. Also, distributor Yashraj Films deserves a pat on their shoulders for bringing a quality product, which is so contemporary, and a must especially for youth audience. A sooner Tax-free status is demanded.