Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind Blow; Hindi; 2004)
This Franco-German of a Hindi film co-production had too much on its plate. No doubt, it had won many global independent awards the world over but the fact remains that its storyline is too ambitious to cover in one and half hour of screening. It tries to deal with so many things without going deep into any of the issues it tries to invoke.
The protagonist, Arjun, is an 18year old youth, is at the crossroads of his life. On one hand, he sees his widowed mother working day and night trying to put food on the table after his gambling father died early. The mother is putting all her hopes on her only son to make it to university. In her eyes, that would be the panacea for all the poverty woes. Arjun is disillusioned by all these. He sees his blue collared friends struggling so hard with no hope ever hitting it big in life. He also sees the rich just loafing around enjoying life and spending (wasting) their money without a care. The lingering dilemma is whether education makes one happy and whether it a passport to success.
In the background, there is a constant reminder on the cable TV that a nuclear showdown is brewing over the India-Pakistan border.
Arjun is not a bright student, though. With all his nocturnal intoxicating habits and trysts, studies hardly interest him. What interest him, however, is a fellow student, Salma. He joins the school drama just to be by her side. He discovers his natural talent in acting. The theme of the show is a scene from the Bhagavad Gita where Arjuna has the cold feet before the Kurukshetra War and his qualms about killing his cousins, somewhat mirroring the two brothers' (India and Pakistan) faceoff! As a side issue, we are introduced to Salma's grandmother who was a freedom fighter who fought for Indian independence and decided to stay back in India and not migrate to Pakistan. Then Salma's parents also work tirelessly for the uplifting of society.
Arjun's best friend, Chabia, a mechanic who gets Arjun to do his vices and also has the contacts to get him out trouble has his own his issues his cabaret dancer girlfriend. The girl loves him but not his poverty, Chabia loves her but not her job.
Along the way, the audience is given the impression that the country has no future but to venture out of it to prosper. In this case, Dubai seems to be the haven. Even that never materialised for our stars. Just as they make plans to leave for Dubai with the farewell party and all, nuclear warheads of India and Pakistan head towards the heart of each other's major city.
The cinematography is so surreal, with many street scenes and lingo that we are all too familiar. Interestingly, that was the very reason why the film had issues with the national censors. It eventually never got screened in India as the filmmakers would not comply with the censors' demand to bleep almost 20 minutes of its dialogue.
Through this film also you get to understand how the chaos theory comes into effect. With so much random things happening around so many people, there is still a semblance of order, and the sun still shines. People still grew to fulfil their dreams and lead a full life.
This Franco-German of a Hindi film co-production had too much on its plate. No doubt, it had won many global independent awards the world over but the fact remains that its storyline is too ambitious to cover in one and half hour of screening. It tries to deal with so many things without going deep into any of the issues it tries to invoke.The protagonist, Arjun, is an 18year old youth, is at the crossroads of his life. On one hand, he sees his widowed mother working day and night trying to put food on the table after his gambling father died early. The mother is putting all her hopes on her only son to make it to university. In her eyes, that would be the panacea for all the poverty woes. Arjun is disillusioned by all these. He sees his blue collared friends struggling so hard with no hope ever hitting it big in life. He also sees the rich just loafing around enjoying life and spending (wasting) their money without a care. The lingering dilemma is whether education makes one happy and whether it a passport to success.
In the background, there is a constant reminder on the cable TV that a nuclear showdown is brewing over the India-Pakistan border.
Arjun is not a bright student, though. With all his nocturnal intoxicating habits and trysts, studies hardly interest him. What interest him, however, is a fellow student, Salma. He joins the school drama just to be by her side. He discovers his natural talent in acting. The theme of the show is a scene from the Bhagavad Gita where Arjuna has the cold feet before the Kurukshetra War and his qualms about killing his cousins, somewhat mirroring the two brothers' (India and Pakistan) faceoff! As a side issue, we are introduced to Salma's grandmother who was a freedom fighter who fought for Indian independence and decided to stay back in India and not migrate to Pakistan. Then Salma's parents also work tirelessly for the uplifting of society.
Arjun's best friend, Chabia, a mechanic who gets Arjun to do his vices and also has the contacts to get him out trouble has his own his issues his cabaret dancer girlfriend. The girl loves him but not his poverty, Chabia loves her but not her job.
Along the way, the audience is given the impression that the country has no future but to venture out of it to prosper. In this case, Dubai seems to be the haven. Even that never materialised for our stars. Just as they make plans to leave for Dubai with the farewell party and all, nuclear warheads of India and Pakistan head towards the heart of each other's major city.
The cinematography is so surreal, with many street scenes and lingo that we are all too familiar. Interestingly, that was the very reason why the film had issues with the national censors. It eventually never got screened in India as the filmmakers would not comply with the censors' demand to bleep almost 20 minutes of its dialogue.
Through this film also you get to understand how the chaos theory comes into effect. With so much random things happening around so many people, there is still a semblance of order, and the sun still shines. People still grew to fulfil their dreams and lead a full life.
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