Udaan- Work of Art
A peep into its morals
कहानी ख़त्म है, या शुरुआत होने को है
सुबह नयी है, या फिर रात होने को है|
The movie starts and ends with the above lines. Rohan, the central character faces the same situation in life twice within a short period. The situation being a crossroad, a do-raaha, where one is not sure what lies ahead. The possibilities can be between two extremes. One being the end of story and the other being a new chapter in life (indicated by the words of the song). The movie begins with Rohan being suspend from boarding school after being found guilty third time of indiscipline. He has been asked to leave school and head home. On the way he wonders what lies ahead of him, if this is the end of life or if it is a start of a new chapter ( the question being all the more important since he hasn’t met his father for 8 years). The end of movie is again with the same question. Rohan after much thought and spent anger decides to leave the house of his tyrant father (and take his younger step brother along). He is sure to leave behind his past, but his future is not certain. And it can take the two extremes of either being the end, or turn of a new chapter.
The movie is a depiction of Grey characters. Except the young boy (who is not old enough to have shades of Grey), all the characters have both something to hate, and something to love about. Even the most negatively portrayed character of Bhairon Singh (Rohan’s father, played extremely well by Ronit Roy), has a certain positivity in it. Though tyrant, he still has some principles. To start with, given all the frustration and loneliness in his life, he has not given up on the responsibility of his boys. He does have a chitran of what a man should be, and tries to shape his boys accordingly (though his methods are subject of criticism through out the movie). The other aspect of Bhairon Singh’s character is that though from outside he appears all strong, firm and heartless, but the movie is able to show the emotive side of him too. The man does feel lonely, he feels and admits the need of a partner (and hence goes for a third marriage, in which he is ready to accept the responsibility of a young girl).
The shades of Grey is what makes the character realistic and believable. The audience can empathize with all the characters. The world is not black and white, but Grey. The truth of world is subjective and not objective. Or in other words, the Truth needs to be contextualized for it to be realistic, believable and even relevant.
The movie is not a happy ending (as one is often used to in Hindi cinema). In fact the movie is strong enough to generate a need of a happy ending in the audience. And that is why it has the potential to leave the audience with a feeling being incomplete or unfinished (something which is still not over). One would leave the cinema hall with a need of a sequel-Udaan II. One might even start imagining and cooking the sequel of the film. And most likely, all the imaginations of the sequel would have the family being re-united. Untill then there seems no end. Untill then one wants no end. The beauty of the movie is that one still doesn’t hate Bhairon Singh and wishes for him to reunite with Rohan and his brother.
The word Udaan signifies freedom. It is about freedom after much effort. The bird flies after weeks of practice and millions of wing flapping. The last run of Rohan, where he finally manages to out run his dad signifies this Udaan. And its probably this, which gives him the final confidence of taking the leap into the world on his own (and the confidence to be able to ‘make future’ of his younger brother). The last run, is probably the most significant part of the movie and best describes its title Udaan.
