The Blue Umbrella (2005) User Reviews

Blue Umbrella

[rajdoctor · 8/10 · 26 August 2007]

Vishal Bharadwaj has evolved in such a wonderful Director with poetic sensibilities and characteristics of becoming world's great directors.

Blue Umbrella is a screen version of Ruskin Bond's short story Blue Umbrella. It is about a young girl Binya (Shriya) who trades her superstitious lucky charm of bear nails in return of a Japanese Blue Umbrella with tourists. Instantly she becomes a center of attraction of the villagers. A small trader Nandakishore (Pankaj Kapoor) eyes of the Blue Umbrella and tries all ways of get the umbrella. When Binya's umbrella is stolen – the police raid Nandakishore's shop. Facing this humiliation and to show that he too can afford or buy an umbrella, Nandakishore orders a similar Japanese Red Umbrella. Once the Red Umbrella comes, he gains back popularity and respect from everyone in the village. During a wrestling bout where he is the chief guest, it rains and the Red Umbrella starts loosing out color and shows that it was the Blue Umbrella. The villagers decide to boycott Nandakishore and outcast him from the village. Nobody talks with him, nobody buys anything from his shop. He faces poverty and humiliation again. But this time it teaches him a lesson of life. Once when Binya forgets her umbrella at his shop, he understand the miseries that the Blue Umbrella caused him and honestly goes back to return the umbrella to Binya. But Binya shows grace and generosity by saying that the Blue Umbrella does not belong to her. The movie ends there…

I applaud this movie onlybecause of the intention of good directors to make pure and beautiful cinema. Can you ever think and imagine Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese or Frank Miller making a children's movie? And that makes them less mortals. The versatility of great directors is the variety they handle. Tarantino, Scorsese and Millers are one dimensional in that sense and can not go beyond gory, blood and violence and that is were their creativity is so cornered and restrictive. That is why hats off to Vishal to have guts to venture into new medium and showcase that irrespective of whatever themes; he remains a good director.

Vishal selects one of the most evolved and brilliant actors in recent times – Pankaj Kapoor who pours such a life in the character of Nandakishore that it is hard to believe this is a role depicted by an actor. He is too brilliant! Third time great – Maqbool, Dharm and Blue Umbrella. The girl Binya is good – but only to the director's lessons; and does not leave a lasting impression as the Makdee girl Swehta Prasad.

The music is good, cinematography brilliant, locale of North Indian Himalayan ranges superb. All in all a great children's movie. It has the purity of cinema and showcases the goodness of human spirit. Teaches small but important lessons of life.

(Stars 7.75 out of 10)

Precious Little Gem

[m_shankar20 · 8/10 · 6 November 2008]

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 !

one of the best Hindi movie....go watch it..

[anuj-2818 · 8/10 · 5 February 2009]

This movie is basically based on a novel written by famous writer Ruskin Bond. The movie is about a little girl Bindiya residing in a hilly state Himachal Pradesh... .....she gets a blue umbrella from some foreigners and then drama starts. The acting of Pankaj (khatri in movie) is superb. I truly recommend all of you this movie....go watch it. I watched this movie 2 years back and believe me that i decided never to delete it from my hard disk. Song sung by famous singer Sukhwinder-Barfan is worth to listen.. I love this movie because it touches my nerves and i love that place where this movie has been made. Quality of comedy is also good. Movie is good from starting till end. Acting by all the actors is good.

A Beautifully Simple but Impactful Little Fable

[Chrysanthepop · 25 December 2007]

Bharadwaj comes up with another interesting piece of cinema that's somewhat different from his other works. 'Omkara' was the last Bharadwaj film I'd seen and 'The Blue Umbrella' clearly excels that. Compared to 'Maqbool' and 'Omkara', 'The Blue Umrella' is a much more abstract and symbolic piece and yes, one of the main characters is played by an umbrella.

Based on Ruskin Bond's novella, it is a very simple storytelling but uses a lot of symbolic elements and makes minimum but brilliant use of technical props. The cinematography welcomes us to the beautiful location and to the character's lives and minds. Each frame of the simplistic setting of North Himalaya is a treat to watch The use of colours is very effective and adds to the abstract nature e.g. what does the blue umbrella symbolize? What do the characters Kishore and Biniya represent? Well, that's for you to figure out. In my opinion the film symbolizes beauty, greed, love, pride, desire and forgiveness. The songs are charming with lovely lyrics that will very much appeal to children. The dialogues are witty and clever.

About acting, the young Shreya is mature and very subtle as Biniya. I was amazed by Kapur's performance. I had last seen him in films like 'Maqbool', 'Dharm' etc, but here he was mind blowing. I can understand why he's referred to as one of the best actors as he seemed to quite naturally pull off Nand Kishore.

This is one of the purest films to emerge from India in recent times. Though it's categorized as a children's film, it's not. It has a powerful message, is a visual treat and film-making at its simplest but most efficient.

A Visual treat of Ruskin Bond's literature

[jayanthanr · 7/10 · 10 December 2013]

I had read about the film in some reviews which were all positive. The names Vishal Baradwaj and Gulzar did create some expectations in me. And did they meet? Well, frankly..more than that !

The story is simple. A girl in a remote village with an attractive blue umbrella, is suddenly grieved by the loss of it and she suspects all those in the village who had an eye on it, especially the 'Kathri', the tea shop owner, amazingly portrayed on screen by Pankaj Kapur.

Never before, have I seen Himachal so beautifully captured on screen, with all the green and the snow white during the last part of the movie. The director goes poetic when on screen he shows the transformation to the winter, from the cotton dust to snow flakes. The other main character of the movie is the music. The songs and the BGM do add to the feel and look of the film.

It's a treat to watch this one. Though categorized as a children's film, it is for all ages.

A Brilliant Blue Umbrella

[bakshijs470 · 10/10 · 22 August 2007]

Who could have thought that an umbrella would turn out to be one of the most compelling characters seen on the cinema screen in 2007? But then, when the filmmaker in question is a master craftsman called Vishal Bhardwaj, pretty much anything is possible. The music director turned filmmaker is a force to reckon with- one of the finest directors seen in a long time- churning out masterpieces with alarming versatility and consistency. This man simply does not cease to amaze, and The Blue Umbrella is yet another stunning film from him- and personally, my favorite Vishal Bhardwaj film so far.

Words do not suffice to describe the amazing beauty, simplicity and purity of this movie, based on the popular novella of the same name by Ruskin Bond. But Vishal Bhardwaj expectedly goes much, much beyond the source material and takes the story to an altogether different level. The umbrella comes to life in this charming fable, symbolizing so much- from love and beauty to desire and materialistic evil.

The Blue Umbrella is a charming story, but it is also a powerful film exploring multiple themes of greed, innocence, ostracism and loss. Stunningly shot by Sachin K Krishn in the locales of Himachal Pradesh, the film is also breathtaking lovely, and the umbrella in all its splendor, set in contrast against the mountain scenery- green in summer and stark white is winter- is a sight to behold.

The writing and dialogues are trademark Bhardwaj- witty, sharp and humorous, with even a cheeky reference to Quentin Tarantino playfully thrown in- Bhardwaj, of course, is a huge fan of the Pulp Fiction director. And the songs in the film hark back to the days of Lakdi Ki Kaathi- as Vishal shows yet again how brilliant he is with children's songs, with Gulzar's joyful lyrics perfectly complimenting his tunes.

But what's really incredible about the film is the sheer spirit of humanity that pervades and shines through the entire film. It is indeed ironical that the film that has been named the 'best children's film' at the recently announced National awards is actually not a kiddie flick at all. But The Blue Umbrella can make you feel like being a child all over again- rather like Nand Kishore in the film, who despite all his vices, still retains the child in him.

Vishal Bhardwaj has an amazing knack for extracting great work from child actors, and débutante actress Shreya is yet another awesome find after Makdee's Shweta Prasad. The role of Biniya does not demand histrionics, but Shreya shows remarkable resilience and maturity, playing Biniya confidently and holding her own even before the veteran actor alongside her in the film.

The actor I talk of is of course, Pankaj Kapur- a horribly underrated actor, and a favorite with Bhardwaj- who has been giving powerhouse performances one after the other of late- whether it be in Maqbool or the more recent Dharm. Pankaj Kapur plays Nand Kishore with such obvious delight, watching him in this film is pleasure beyond words. One of the most riveting and memorable characters he has played, this undoubtedly is the finest performance I have seen in the movies this year.

In fact, Pankaj Kapur is so good in this film, he almost brought tears to my eyes. Watch it- because performances like these don't come once too often. And because films like these do not happen every other Friday....unless you want to wait for Vishal Bhardwaj's next film. I, for one, actually can't wait.

A paper thin story which could only be enhanced by severe editing

[malcp · 6/10 · 11 April 2020]

I wonder if some ritual symbolism was embedded in this film which was altogether too subtle or perhaps too exotic for me to interpet. There are moments of stunning visual imagery, unusual and interesting landscapes and some wonderful acting, but while many Indian films do sustain and entertain you for three hours or more, I actually found it quite difficult to remain interested throughout this tale. Ultimately, it seemed to me that the allure of the umbrella escapes both Biniya and Khatri and perhaps there is a message in there about not wasting too much time and energy on material possessions - who knows, I think this film winds up being too timid and too meandering for anyone to be certain

Another Masterpiece by Vishal

[anindyaall · 10/10 · 23 August 2007]

Superb Performances, panoramic cinematography, excellent storytelling and made with the heart. Like all other Vishal movies this one also has all the above qualities, but this movie has one thing which takes it ahead form all his earlier flicks and that is the way it treats humans and their emotions. Vishal turns the very simple story to the story of humanity and simplicity remains as it is.

How an Blue Umbrella becomes center of two lives and how the two dealt with this. These two characters are Binya and Nand Kishore, played by introducing child artist Shreya and heavily experienced Pankaj Kapur. Pankaj Kapur lived the character of Nand Kishore in the movie. This was surely the best performance by him. His dialog delivery , accent , body language all was so real.

I think Blue Umbrella is not only meant for children but for everyone who want to see great movies. Vishal has created the movies which are truly across boundaries and across ages.

surely a 10/10.

a must see film

[mahajan_shruti · 10/10 · 19 May 2006]

a film which can be seen with the family.a film which is made from the heart by director.the direction,cinematography,screenplay n acting are simply superb.Indian cinema should promote such films which are truly world class.a clean,simple story telling is the beauty of the film.the brilliant photography of the film enhances the story.music of the film is fresh n soothing to the ears.the child artist is wonderful.the legendary actor,has once again out beaten himself. it is an adaption of one of ruskin bond's short stories.the director has been able to do full justice to this story.fabulously casted,enacted,directed n shot. a film everyone will enjoy!go with your family and see it.

Beautiful Tale

[yom_cule · 9/10 · 2 December 2008]

Cinema is a very powerful medium.Like any other powerful media it needs to be harnessed well or the results can be go awry. For all the power it has, it is not after all so easy to captivate the audience, strike a cord and forever etch it in the viewers memory. Vishal Bharadwaj's Blue Umbrella does just that and in my opinion does a bit more!

It takes a simple village tale woven by Ruskin Bond and makes it to an amazing movie. Cinematography is amazing and the first scene is proof enough. Pankaj Kapoor gives another performance worth remembering. Bhardwaj knows close-ups with such powerful actors work well and we see lot of closeups in the movie. It goes without saying Kapoor's expressions during close-ups are just brilliant and something to look out for. The filmmaker also gets the best of the child actors and the screenplay, the gait all seem add to the rhythm of the cinema. And more than all these it is a movie about humans, their desires, their failings and emotions.

All in all wonderful cinema!!! Please do watch it!!

A comment on the synopsis by Michelle Sohn!!!

[yas_dxb · 26 August 2007]

I would just like to comment on the plot synopsis written by Michelle Sohn. I disagree with the comment 'The film blends the extremely colorful and gaudy images with Bollywood-style song and dance!' Where does Michelle Sohn find 'GAUDINESS' in the movie? As an avid watcher of Hindi movies, I really do not approve of such words in a fine example of cinema! I had the misfortune of watching stupid and senseless movies like transformers, Premonition, The wedding singer etc. and i believe they are much more 'gaudy' than this movie. I request IMDb to please employ people who know how to write a good plot synopsis without restoring to jingoism. A final word to Michelle Sohn- I think Indian movies far outshine American movies so please don't write reviews if you are not really interested in our movies!!!!!!!!

Vishal Bhardwaj's done it again

[parttimegod · 9/10 · 23 October 2007]

I must say after seeing omkara(vishals earlier movie), i knew that he had skill in the field of direction, but blue umbrella is a milestone in his career personifying his art. based on the Ruskin bond novel, this movie is a work of art, all packed with children singing "tesu" songs, depicting the rural India. The story although seems timid, but bhardwaj shows how small problems go big in the rural world. I would Have to go so far to say that the Indian audiences may not be as ready for the movie as bhardwaj thought they were.hence declaring it a flop for the masses. but in the true art sense it is a work of guts. and to top it all we receive a mind numbling performance by theatre actor Pankaj Kapur. who literally plays with your mind throughout the film. On an over all basis this movie marks the change of Indian cinema, or you can say the return of the parallel cinema once started by men like satyajit ray...

A piece of Sky that will steal your heart!!

[aabbhhii-73643 · 10/10 · 1 September 2018]

Writing this review while listening to "Barfaan" in background.

Perfect movie to start your Saturday morning. It's so fresh, simple and touching that it will get etched in your mind for ever. You can easily connect with this movie if you were ever obsessed about any thing (be it your toy car, school bag, t-shirt etc) and can feel the pain of accidentally losing that precious thing. This movie confirms that old age people and kids behave in a similar manner and need to be handled with same care.

The story, Vishal's direction,Cinematography capturing colours and beautiful North India, Music, Lyrics (Gulzar), Pankaj Kapoor, Biniya and last but surely not the least "The Umbrella" adds up to make an awesome movie.

This is the type of Bollywood I crave for.

Honoring Things Beautiful

[lyrxsf · 8/10 · 31 July 2009]

Blue Umbrella is beautiful. The umbrella, the concept of the story, the background of the movie, the people, the symbolic values – they're all beautifully presented. Pankaj Kapoor says in the movie that one shouldn't measure the profit loss behind watching a sunrise. In the same way, there's really no evaluation of this movie because of its intangible beauty. It also showcases the culture of mountain people, how they deal with crime and punishment. It gets quite intense and still doesn't let go of its simplicity. Its joy to watch the kids dance along the streets and also the adults in a marriage ceremony. Pankaj Kapoor and the director have both done a great job!

Absolutely Gorgeous...

[thrashneon · 10/10 · 23 November 2009]

I've only just recently discovered "Bollywood" movies.. (through Independent Film Channel). I am enjoying the weekly films shown on IFC, but I'm not sure that this film fits into what most people think of as a "Bollywood" movie-- love stories or gangsters with out-of-place song and dance numbers tacked on. Although I *do* enjoy those types of movies once in a while...

Instead, I think that "The Blue Umbrella" is simply an extraordinary example of Hindi film-making.

The cinematography is STUNNING. I was struck by the rural setting- which I've never seen in a typical Bollywood movie (mountains and snow?!?)- and since I live in an area in the US that looks very much like the location in the film, it made it seem much more "real" to me. I got a real feel for the village and for the people who live there. At times, I thought I was watching a beautiful documentary about village life.

The story is captivating. Amazing performances by all. Pankaj Kapur = amazing.

I truly hope that more films such as this receive a much larger audience. Some of the comments here describe this as a "children's film", but I would call it just a great film.

A joy to watch from start to finish.

A great movie

[nitinjain_nitin · 8/10 · 16 July 2008]

Indian film Industry is very strange. On one hand it churns out movies like 'Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag' and 'Tashan' and one hand it comes out with great movies like 'The Blue Umbrella'. A very very good movie. Pankaj Kapoor proves once again that he is one of the best actors that the film industry has ever produced. Having a good story is one thing and that was what Ruskin Bond provided. But adapting a good movie and making an even better movie is what Vishal Bhardwaj did. In the past few years the industry has given us some very good child artists. And Shreya Sharma is one of them. She ranks right up along with other child actors that came to the industry in recent times. Set up in the scenic Himachal Pradesh Vishal Bhardwaj gave us a classic. A must watch for an ardent fan of Indian movies. The language used in the movie, the scenic locations, the acting of the main characters.... there is nothing about the film that is not good. There is only one thing that I did not quite liked about the movies... and that were the songs. A movie like this should not have songs.. that was my thought. But anyway a great movie and everyone should see it.

Brilliant performances and great story

[siddharthsaxena007-797-687287 · 8/10 · 21 February 2011]

well... what can one say about pankaj kapoor .. one of the finest actors is almost every kind of role and this movie is no different his expressions his voice modulations are all awesome... the girl Shreya Sharma also deserves mention ...she does a great job

and the story is extremely subtle which can only be conceived either by R.k. narayan or in this case Mr. Ruskin Bond....

Vishal does all justice to the story in this great movie... specially striking bout the movie is the way it changes tone halfway the movie..the change of mood is almost palpable....Great

Just the kind of movie that tells what should be the standard of direction ...

A Collectors Item

[prabhulaldamji · 8/10 · 31 July 2014]

Thanks to Ronnie Screenwala for producing, Vishal Bhardwaj for directing this well made movie for all families. Just shows that one does not need big stars, loud music, violence or sex to make movies that's entertaining and will always stick in your memories forever. Well acted both by the main stars Shreya Sharma and Pankaj Kapur (wish the his son Shahid Kapur would take a leaf from his dad from this movie). Pleased to read that this movie won a national award and many have been impressed and recommended it of which I am in agreement with them. Amazing location and scenery highlights that one does not need go outside India to get good location. Hope more Bollywood Producers and Directors would take risks to make such movies.

Very matured children movie

[manoj-ransing · 8/10 · 13 January 2008]

Director Vishal Bhardwaj is by now an expert in making the movies suitable for children genre. The movie "Blue Umbrella" is much more similar to his previous creation Makdee, gives a lot to watch for adults than the children. I think these movies are two amongst the best in this category.

The story of 'Blue Umbrella' takes place at a some cold Himalayan village. The presentation and camera work to show the coolness of the village is marvelous. Within few minutes the audience will get mix with the village and the people living in it. The characters are sketched and presented in very simple manner and are introduced naturally. It takes just one song and a couple of scenes to get into the movie before the real story begun.

The music and the acting are great points, which goes in favor of movie. Pankaj Kapur who leads the screen is a natural actor and as in his other characters you wont find any misbehavior in Nandkishor character. The child actor Shriya has also done a great job. The feelings that Biniya gets when she gets the umbrella, and again the sorrow for the lost of umbrella are done excellently by Shriya. Full credits to here and the director.

I won't say anymore about this one. If you are reading this I will urge you to watch this. It is not one of those multi-masala Bollywood movies, neither the ultra boring Indian art movies. It is in between these two extremes and very much different than other movie. It's a real cool piece of cinema which is a great pleasure for the eyes and the mind. I am regretting for not watching the movie in theater. (I didn't recall this movie was released in any theater in Bangalore). But certainly from next time, I will wait impatiently for children movies from Vishal Bhardwaj.

Took 13 years to watch finally - my experience not a review.

[sadnemous-370-99583 · 8/10 · 26 November 2020]

Watching a movie is an event to me, specifically if it is from my favorite directors. Tomorrow is holiday for Thanksgiving so tonight we started to watch. We means my wife and my 7-year-old daughter. When I saw Ruskin Bond at the starting credit, my interest and expectation grew much higher.

What a movie, I cannot praise enough to this one. Initially I thought it would be a kid movie but it is not at all a kid movie. Many times it's too subtle to understand for a kid. It is a story where kids are involved, specially two kids one is Biniya - 9 year old real charm second is Nandu uncle who has hidden innocence, desire of a kids who loves to watch rainbow, urge to possess a binocular even if for few days, or a Japanese umbrella.

I had to retell the whole story to my daughter to a simplified version. But I could not able to explain why Nandu uncle took all pain intentionally for Rajaram (the helping hand) who was not related to him or had much emotional attachment to him. Also the textile dyer could have told about Rajaram who was behind all. Or Nandu uncle actually did?.

So I looked up for the book in local library and found it is available. So day after tomorrow I am going to borrow the book to find out what actually happened? I will add after I read the book.