I AM Impressed: Film Review

I AM team - Captured from a distance

I AM impressed – The Film Review of I AM

Swedish Film Writer Ingmer Bergman once said  “ No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.’ I AM is such a film, which redefines typecast cinema, and gives our otherwise insulted minds some good food for thought. 4 sensitive.. no.. ultra-sensitive societal truths of Homosexuality, Child Sex Abuse, Single voluntary Motherhood and The Kashmir issue have been dealt with in great cinematic style, under a single film with four different character stories woven in beautifully. But the beauty of this film is it is well paced, not at all gory and scripted interestingly. This is one cinematic piece worth a watch, and you wouldn’t feel the weight of facing reality either.

The 4 Stor(ies) of IAM :

I AM Afia, I AM Megha, I AM Abhimanyu and I AM Omar are stories of 4 different characters each, who have faced some harsh, usually hushed up realities of life. The film takes a microscopic look at each of these issues and leaves a strong thought provoking message for the audience, without leaving them shaken or feeling uncomfortable.

Afia (played by Nandita Das) is a 30 something married woman who yearns for a baby and finally decides to make one independently, using a sperm donor, after her husband cheats on her and leaves her.

Megha, (Juhi Chawla), Afia’s friend, is a Kashmiri Pandit whose happy childhood spent in the paradise of Sringar, has suddenly been marred with violent ousting of her family from their homes. When she returns after 20 years to bury the carcass of those dark memories once and for all, the debate between her best friend Rubina (Manisha) showcases the bitter dilemma of life which both are faced with.

Abhimanyu (Sanjay Suri), also shown to be Afia’s friend, has grown upto be an opportunist. But the seeds of his misery have been sown by his stepfather (Anurag Kashyap) who abuses him sexually ever since he is a child till he grows up, and a lovable Mother who has chosen to blindfold herself from the dark truth due to circumstances.

Omar (Arjun Mathur) plays with the feelings of Jai-  a homosexual guy (Rahul Bose as Abhimanyu’s friend). Unable to take the shock of humiliation by the police, Jai is a reflection of gay men being harassed owing to the lack of a just system for homosexuals. Of course, with the judgment of Article 377, being awaited, many gay men and women would soon be liberated from the trauma of being scoffed at and harassed.

Why I liked the film:

• Its a courageous film, dealing with otherwise ignored issues like child sex abuse, homosexuality etc
• It strikes a harmonious balance between the darkness of the subject and the dangers of frivolous cinema
• It deals with dark subjects in a relatively sensitive yet engaging style, without a moment of unrequisite drama.
• These subjects NEED to be spoken about in society
• The stories flow smoothly one into the other.
• The impeccable editing is the leading point of the film
• The lead and supporting actors have done a commendable job to look, sound and be as real life as possible
• The stories are based on research and real life stories (e.g. I Am Abhimanyu is based on the lives of Harish Iyer and Ganesh N)
• Simple, Well paced, not gory
• The music is soulful
• Revolutionary. Big thappad on the faces of ‘big’ and self-proclaimed ‘modern’ filmmakers like KJo and clan. Big budgets and stars don’t make big films. The stories do. (sorry, do I sound like a biased bitch?)

 What I AM afraid of, is that a section of viewers might not agree with several nuances or the depth of the film. But My take is for a common man who is not yet sensitised to these topics, the film is a decent dose.

 What I did not like about the film: Why did they not take up some fifth subject too, to get the audiences think beyond brainless entertainment.

 Overall rating: 3.5 on 5. The film releases on April29th, 2011. Go watch it.

 Factoids about I AM:

•  It has travelled across the globe, and won various awards at International Film Festivals, already.
• The first Indian film to be financed through crowdsourcing (common people co-owning the film)
• Nandita Das was actually 5 months pregnant when she was shooting her part for this film
• Onir and Sanjay Suri have together made pathbreaking films like this earlier – My Brother Nikhil, Bas Ek Pal

More interesting factoids and latest news on on www.facebook.com/iamthefilms