Certain issues continue to make waves and hit headlines. Issues like the influx of people from the Northern states to Mumbai, or the one where, allegedly, residential societies don't seem too keen to allot flats to members of a particular community...
N. Chandra encompasses all this and more in YEH MERA INDIA. The style of narrating the stories is akin to CRASH, while the storytelling is similar to Chandra's accomplished works ANKUSH and PRATIGHAAT - two films that made him an iconic figure then.
YEH MERA INDIA is sharp as a blade and yes, it does re-open old wounds. The film works in most parts because you identify with most stories, but how one wishes Chandra would've kept the length of the movie in check.
Final word? YEH MERA INDIA has its heart in the right place. Here's a film that pricks your conscience and makes you think. Recommended!
YEH MERA INDIA is an attempt to explore the real stories behind the headlines. These stories deal with racial bias, communal bias, caste bias, class bias, gender bias, lingual bias and immigrant bias that plague the society. It is a story of one day in the life of 12 people from different strata of Mumbai city, which is a melting pot of cultures.
N. Chandra goes back to his roots - topical, hard-hitting themes - and picks up stories that the common man would relate to. These stories are connected to one another and some of them are disturbing, which only goes to prove that the storyteller has succeeded in drawing your attention to the problems.
But what dilutes the impact is the way some of these stories are culminated in the concluding reels. In real life, not all stories have a happy end, but in this case, they do. Also, since Chandra has chosen to raise too many issues, it's sure to take a toll on the length of the film, with each story demanding a justifiable ending and that only makes the goings-on lengthy.
Chandra is best remembered for his first two films [also TEZAAB] and in YEH MERA INDIA, the N. Chandra of yore is visible in several sequences. One only wishes the production values would've been superior.
The film has an ensemble cast and the actors infuse life in their characters. In fact, every actor in YEH MERA INDIA leaves a mark, but the ones who stand out are Anupam Kher, Parvin Dabas, Vijay Raaz, Atul Kulkarni, Seema Biswas, Rajpal Yadav and Smilie Suri.
On the whole, YEH MERA INDIA is a film that grows on you. It's a film that the aam aadmi would connect with. At the box-office, this film should show an escalation thanks to a strong word of mouth.
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