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Barah Aana |
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| Movie: | Barah Aana |
| Start Cast: |
Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz, Arjun Mathur, Violante Placido, Tannishtha Chatterjee |
| Directer: | Raja Menon |
| Music: | Shri |
| Editing: | Hemanti Sarkar |
| Cinematography: | Priya Seth |
| Banner: | Bandra West Pictures |
| Producer: | Raj Yerasi, Giulia Achilli, and Raja Menon |
| Our Rating: | 3.5 out of 5 |
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Movie Review
(Posted on: March 20, 2009)
If you are aware about the oddities of society and you can do nothing about it then the best thing to do is wipe your hands across your mouth and laugh at them. Rajiv Menon’s Barah Aana is not a comedy of trifle misunderstandings and playful disguises but a more realistic depiction of how common people face the life of drudgery without even a temporary respite. Shukla (Naseeruddin Shah), Yadav (Vijay Raaz) and Aman (Arjun Mathur) are three friends coming from a different background and pursuing three different professions. While Shukla plays an old driver, Yadav takes the role of a tortured watchman and Aman is a young waiter eager to be into a relationship.
Barah Aana (which means three-fourth of a rupee) is a compact story of three distinct people living in the slums of Dharavi (in Mumbai) and experiencing the daily grind for the sake of earning money. Their actions and consequences are somehow shared by all the three with Shukla proving to be less talkative and more introspective. He seems to follow the advice of a great literary artist, who had once said “Give everybody your ear, but few your voice”. He understands how people in the lower strata of the society are mal-treated and are forced to surrender before the tyranny of affluent masters, but he does not voice against this.
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Be it the pining of poor Yadav for few hundred rupees to arrange for his sick child’s treatment or the frequent insults hurled at Shukla for being a driver, all are the symptoms of a single social malice- the overt sense of superiority and the inherent urge to humiliate the sub-ordinates. After his performance in Monsoon Wedding as Dubey ji, Vijay Raaz produced another stunner as a watchman, doing full justice to his character. He was not a silent acceptor of injustice like Shukla, and rather he showed his disgust over the aamir log (rich) with full pitch. He attains his heights of perfection during the scenes where he is found drunk. The way he blurts out the deep philosophies of life in a simple and uncouth manner, is highly commendable. He questions the nature of people and demands the answer as why they are like that (aadmi aisa kyon hota hai?).
Aman is a victim of different circumstances. He strives hard to impress Kate (Violante Placido), a regular customer of the restaurant where he works as a waiter. There is something more to it. The handsome waiter nurtures a desire within him to win the heart of this pretty Italian lady and end up with marital ties. On the other hand, Rani (Tannistha Chatterjee) is already impressed with him. Her attires, attitudes and aggressive glances and casual flirting could not have been more fitting for her role. Aman, the dreamer boy, also gives his effort to materialize his nascent love. Although he delivered an average performance, the individuality of his story made it look unique.
The movie reaches its climax when three of them got entangled in a crime and that is the turning point in their lives. Three of them found a ray of hope and a steady source of income when the situation was despairing. The throbbing background music, courtesy Shri, went on perfectly well with the suspense-packed events that followed one after another. The movie ends on an educative note telling its audience that life does not abide by our desires and plans and our struggle for survival is perpetual which leaves the space for wanting more.
The symbolic title of the movie is explained by Naseeruddin Shah through a short monologue at the end of the movie. Director Rajiv Menon seems to have chosen this title to connote that none of us has the privilege to lead wholesome lives and it is the gap of one-fourth part which remains out of our reach how hard we try to fill it. Apart from the repetitive settings and unsorted dichotomy in the character of Yadav, Barah Aana can be a complete (solah aana) light-hearted entertainer.
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