The Blue Umbrella (2005)

Young Biniya lives a poor lifestyle in a small village in the mountainous and snowy region of Himachal Pradesh in India along with her widowed mom and wrestler brother. She entertains ... See full summary »

Director:

Vishal Bhardwaj

Writers:

Ruskin Bond (based on a novella by), Minty Kunwar Tejpal (screenplay),

Stars:

Pankaj Kapur, Shreya Sharma, Deepak Dobriyal

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pankaj Kapur	...	Nandakishore 'Nandu' Khatri
Shreya Sharma	...	Biniya
Deepak Dobriyal	...	Robot Owner
Rahul Kumar	...	Tikku
Paramjit Singh Kakran	...	Rajaram
Piu Dutt	...	Binya's mother
Aasmaan Bhardwaj	...	Biniya's Friend
Urmila	...	Biniya's Friend
Dollram	...	Biniya's Friend
Kamal	...	Biniya's Friend
Salil Golu	...	Biniya's Friend
Puja	...	Biniya's Friend
Karan	...	Biniya's Friend
Manvi	...	Biniya's Friend
Rishabh	...	Biniya's Friend

Storyline

Young Biniya lives a poor lifestyle in a small village in the mountainous and snowy region of Himachal Pradesh in India along with her widowed mom and wrestler brother. She entertains various tourists, and while doing so with some tourists from Japan, trades in her bear-tooth amulet with a blue umbrella. She and her umbrella become very popular with both tourists and the local villagers. A restaurant-owner, Nandkishore Khatri, takes a fancy to this umbrella and attempts several times to buy if off of her - in vain. Then one day while tending to her two cows, the umbrella goes missing. The entire village sympathizes with her. She suspects Nandkishore, and the police turn his house upside down but are unable to locate the missing umbrella. An embittered and upset Nandkishore orders a red-and-white Japanese umbrella and, in turn, becomes immensely popular with the local villagers as well as with tourists. The question remains: where did Biniya's umbrella disappear to, and will she ever ...

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Plot Keywords:

umbrella | tourist | village | japanese | japanese umbrella | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

10 August 2007 (India)

Filming Locations:

Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh, India

Company Credits

Production Co:

UTV Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Precious Little Gem

The Blue Umbrella is an instant classic. It is simple, heart warming and metaphorical at the same time. It is based on a novella by celebrated author Ruskin Bond. Bond's story captures the mood and the uncomplicated lifestyle of a small hill town spot-on and Vishal Bharadwaj renders it on the screen flawlessly.

A little girl (Shreya Sharma) trades her lucky charm for an umbrella with a Japanese tourist. The beauty of the umbrella takes over the whole of the town. Everybody falls for it but none more than the stingy shopkeeper Khatri (Pankaj Kapoor). He wants to have it by hook or crook. What Khatri finds and looses in his quest for the umbrella is the rest of the story.

This film is a reminder of the fact that Pankaj Kapoor never got the recognition he deserves. He is one of the finest actors this country has ever produced. He single-handedly turns 'The Blue Umbrella' from an ordinary film into extra ordinary achievement. The nuances he brings to his role - a twitch of his face, a gait to his walk, everything - works to etch the character in the minds of the viewer. A splendid performance is all I can say in short.

The little Shreya is endearing. We are as heart broken as she is when she looses her umbrella; and we rejoice with her when she dances with it.

The biggest credit of all, however, goes to Vishal Bharadwaj. It takes courage and commitment to make the kind of films he has made so far. A gem of a film !