Review: ‘Udaan’ is simple yet thought provoking

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai: Director Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘Udaan’ may have a very simple story, but its lead characters have surely done their best to take the film to another level. Starring Rajat Barmecha, Ronit Roy, Aayan Boradia, and Ram Kapoor, ‘Udaan’ literally moves you with its emotional subject and stellar performances by the entire star cast. It’s the story of a child, who’s a victim of troubled childhood, oppression and even of a nation’s social norms. Rohan (Rajat Barmecha), who is a teenager, is thrown out of his high-status boarding school with his gang of friends after they are all caught watching a C-grade smut film, off campus. Left with no other choice, Rohan is forced to come back home to his dad (Ronit Roy), who has been absconding from his son’s life for as long as eight years. So, Rohan, who happens to be a rebellious child is now supposed to live with his oppressive and emotionally-blunt father in the town of Jamshedpur. The father works in a small steel plant and wants his son to be an engineer and enjoys defeating him in running, while the son is a dreamer, who likes to sit on railway tracks, under a tree, by the bed of a river, composing poetry. And since the father just can’t let his son become a writer, he makes it very clear to both Rohan, and his step-brother Arjun. Rohan does try to oppose the situation in his own little ways but is forced to give in to his father’s wishes. However, when the little kid gets to know that the reason for Arjun’s hospitalisation is because of a beating from his father, he boils with rage, but fails to help it. Nevertheless, the young boy finally manages to break free at the end of it all. On the whole, hailing from the Anurag Kashyap’s school of cinema, ‘Udaan’ is a simple yet expressive story perfectly combined with impeccable performances by the star cast, which makes the film a must-watch, without a doubt. Rating: 4 cheers