Nov 28, 2008

Mumbai My Life


The horrifying terrorist attacks in Mumbai are still going on. Reaching 48 hours now. Many speculations, many stories, many emotions. One of the issues will be how the city is collectively going to process this trauma. This made me think of a movie I saw recently, Mumbai Meri Jaan (Mumbai my life, 2008) by Nishikanth Kamath.
I would say this movie is an Indian version of Crash. It revolves around the lives of different people that come together because of the terrorist attack on the Mumbai train on 11 july 2006. Over 200 people lost their lives then. The movie is original and touching in the sense that it is not so much about the blast itself, but about a few people dealing with its impact. At the same time it is a movie about the way media deals with these happenings. A big newschannel wants to cover the horrors and at the same time get the most viewers.
The movie opens with a speech of Nehru, who adresses the public about the awakening of India. In the context of the images to come the speech gets a different meaning. Maybe 'the nation' is not able to provide security for all. And maybe it is more the people themselves that have to learn how to live together. No one is going to do that for them. Mumbai Meri Jaan shows how the people of this mega-city struggle, but that human contact is possible.
In the light of the terror currently happening, Mumbai Meri Jaan is an important movie and could help the people in talking about their experiences. I wish the city inspiration for finding connections between people, instead of further clashes and divisions.
By the way, the title refers to the classis song Bombay meri Jaan from the movie CID. It already said that living in a big city is difficult, with so many material things and danger around. Apparently it can not be sung and shown enough...

1 comment:

Puja said...

Thinking about this movie, also reminds me of another movie I saw recently, "A Wednesday" (starring Anupam Kher and Nasaruddin Shah) where a common man takes revenge of the terrorist attack..a very well made movie, compltely original idea and excellent direction, it made me wonder, have we really reached a stage where it is completely upon us to react, to make the government feel that they are useless and we, common people, have to take action...for a lot of people, movies are bullshit...and trust me, some of the bollywood stuff is bullshit..but its movies like Mumbai Meri Jaan and A Wednesday that make one feel things that you would have never felt otherwise, make you think about whats REALLY important..and where do we stand in all this...