Udaan

I love to collect Indian movies. I started to love collecting Indian movies when my brother lived in Singapore for 9 months back then when he was finishing his college. His roommates were apparently Indians straight from Bombay if I am not mistaken, so he got the chance to watch Indian films and eat Indian food cooked by real Indians. He brought me one Indian movie titled "Taare Zameen Par", directed by Aamir Khan. It was a really beautiful film and since that (oh, and before that, I watched "3 Idiots", of course), I have the urge to find and watch more Indian movies.

Yesterday, I watched this Hindi-Indian film titled "Udaan", or "Flight" in English. Just like most Indian films, the screen time is long, but minus the Bollywood songs and dances throughout the film. The director is Vikramaditya Motwane and this film was selected in the 2010 Cannes Film Festival to compete in the Un Certain Regard category.

This is the story of Rohan, a 17-year old boy who got dropped out from his school, Bishop Cotton School, in Shimla. He returned to Jamshedpur, Jharkhand (and based on my limited knowledge about Indian geography, Jharkhand is located in the eastern part of India, far from the center of India, and is known as "the land of forests"),  his hometown, to live with his father who have never met him for the past 8 years. Rohan's mother already passed away and his father is not a person with a good attitude. Rohan did not know that he actually had a 6-year old brother named Arjun, the son of his father and his second wife in which the marriage did not work out. Rohan wished to be an author and study arts and literature, but his hard father insisted on him to become an engineer, and worse, with his father's attitude, it is impossible for Rohan to get what he has always wanted.

Through this film, I can see that Rohan is a troubled boy who happens to become troublesome. The filmmaker tries to criticise many social aspects with a very smooth way. I bet there will people who can relate themselves with this film, although their conditions might not be entirely the same. The obstacles are built step-by-step, with ups and downs within the family itself, making us sympathise even more with Rohan. His character is so loveable that I want him to win this conquer.

I do not think that telling the end of the story and the whole story itself will be fun to do, but I do think that the need to tell people that this film succeeds in pointing out the social aspects within the smallest part of society which is family. This family is dysfunctional and yet Rohan does not stop with his condition. It is also the story of hope, in a very weird way. Also, only few women are portrayed in this film. Perhaps this is a man's film that is meant to be watched by everyone, including women.

I do recommend people to watch this film. You might not see the famous, handsome Indian actors, but you will see another reality out there, a hard reality that is being brought through film.