Review: ‘Leaving Home…’ is a fitting ode to Indian Ocean

Spicezee Bureau Mumbai: For starters, Jaideep Varma’s ‘Leaving Home: The Life and Music of Indian Ocean’ is not a typical Bollywood affair, complete with a lead pair, romance, drama, action and et al. Instead, the movie is an epic ode to the life and times of India’s first Rock band – Indian Ocean. ‘Leaving Home: The Life and Music of Indian Ocean’ is a moving, yet exciting narrative which documents the life of four musicians - Susmit Sen, Rahul Ram, Amit Kilam and the late Asheem Chakravarty. The Rock-umentary documents the musical journey of Indian Ocean, as it jams and creates inspiring music at a bungalow in the bustling by-lanes of Delhi’s Karol Bagh. A band with no defined genre, Indian Ocean challenges the limits of creativity. For instance, the drummer of the band, Amit Kilam is a guitarist. Rahul Ram, the bassist is an environmentalist from Cornell and Susmit and Asheem, guitarist and percussionist firmly believe that even if alone they can survive on their music. ‘Leaving Home: The Life and Music of Indian Ocean’ comes with some of the famous tracks from the band such as, ‘Desert Rain’, ‘Maa Rewa’, ‘Kandisa’, ‘Jhini’, ‘Village Damsel’ and the anthemic ‘Bandeh.’ The movie evokes admiration for a band that eluded mainstream recognition, yet, survived all odds and quietly kept on churning soulful melodies, which inspired one and all. ‘Leaving Home: The Life and Music of Indian Ocean’ was finished two years before the sad demise of Asheem Chakravarty, however, the movie ends as a tribute to the fond memory of the true genius and artist in Asheem Chakravarty. Ratings: Four cheers for this one!