Udaan (2010)

Expelled from his school, a 16-year old boy returns home to his abusive and oppressive father.

Director:

Vikramaditya Motwane

Writers:

Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap

Stars:

Rajat Barmecha, Sanjay Gandhi, Ronit Roy

Top Rated Indian Movies #49 | 15 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rajat Barmecha	...	Rohan Singh
Sanjay Gandhi	...	Rathod
Ronit Roy	...	Bhairav Singh
Manjot Singh	...	Maninder Singh
Ram Kapoor	...	Jimmy Singh
Raja Hudda	...	Vikram
Varun Khettry	...	Benoy
Shashi Sharma	...	Rathod's Girlfriend
Khushkeran Singh Sandhu	...	Punished Boy
Jayanta Das	...	Principal
Akantuk Sharma	...	Boy Carrying Trunk
Sahil Sahota	...	Boy Carrying Trunk
Aayan Boradia	...	Arjun Singh
Sonia Raisurana	...	Rashmi Singh
Mohammad Nizam	...	Mr. Rao (as MD Nizam)

Storyline

After being abandoned for eight straight years in boarding school, Rohan returns to the small industrial town of Jamshedpur and finds himself closeted with an authoritarian father and a younger half brother who he didn't even know existed. Forced to work in his father's steel factory and study engineering against his wishes, he strives to forge his own life out of his given circumstances and pursue his dream of being a writer.

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Plot Keywords:

engineering college | authoritarian | boarding school | dark hero | disturbed childhood | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

16 July 2010 (India)

Also Known As:

Flight

Filming Locations:

Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,715, 18 July 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$7,461, 1 August 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

UTV Spotboy, Anurag Kashyap Films, Sanjay Singh Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Imtiaz Ali's younger brother Sajid was initially cast as Rohan in 2005.

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Connections

References Trimurti (1995)

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Soundtracks

Motumaster Gas Ka Plastar
Written by Amitabh Bhattacharya
Composed by Amit Trivedi
Performed by Raman Mahadevan, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Bonnie Chakraborty,
Kshitij, Sriram Iyer, Tochi, Amit Trivedi and Anurag Kashyap
Courtesy of Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series)

User Reviews

An insightful and must watch take on adolescence with a hidden message.

Adolescence is one of those rare subjects on which we haven't witnessed many movies made in Bollywood. Therefore UDAAN comes as a pleasant surprise from a debutant director Vikramaditya Motwane, who boldly makes his first movie on an important subject and delivers a fine polished product proving his unique thought process with a style.

First of all the film is not preachy as it may seem to be from its look and promos. It's a simple story of a young boy and his relationship with his rigid father and helpless younger step brother told in the most simplistic way. But as it is said, 'The beauty lies in its simplicity', UDAAN becomes worth watching because it's truthfully simple without any added flavors or colors.

It starts superbly with its first 20 minutes depicting the mischievous days of 4 young friends living in a boarding school. The sequence of their running from the school to watch an adult movie in the night show sets the mood in for the viewers. But this particular section of the film indisputably belongs to Manjot Singh alone (the young Lucky from 'Oye Lucky Lucky Oye"), as he clearly outshines everyone on the screen with his famous realistic dialogue delivery style and comic persona.

After its funny half an hour, UDAAN takes a serious turn and then moves into a completely different shell talking about the difficulties faced by a young boy while interacting with his ruler kind of a father. At this stage the narration becomes serious and the pace slows down drastically. But very soon you find yourself involved in this little family of three men living in the same house as strangers.

In every family, a young male child always has his own contradictions with his father. There is difference of opinion, difference of vision and most probably the fight is over the issue of the stream or line in which the child desires to make a career in. UDAAN rightly focuses on this relevant issue and therefore every young boy watching the movie would easily relate to the script and the characters in a big way.

The movie may not find a thumbs up from every section of the viewers as its basically meant for the fans of realistic cinema who are used to a slower pace and can appreciate the social subject of the script. It also has some minor flaws in its charactersiation like, how can a child steal money and car from his father who has a reign of fear in the family and yet cannot revolt right away. But even after these minor glitches, it still remains a well crafted film standing out of all those usual projects offered to us in 2010.

In real terms there are few visible and one invisible aspect of "UDAAN", which makes it a worth watching project.

The visible aspects mainly include the outstanding confrontation sequences between the father and the son about their different styles of living and choice of professions. Both Rajat Barmecha as the young boy and Ronit Roy as the father truly excel in their scenes together.

Then just watch out for the young kid Aayan Boradia, playing the silent step son, who mutely keeps suffering the merciless beatings of his father and doesn't utter a word. He is simply adorable and loving with his innocent smile and dialogues. And then there are two sparkling performances by Ram Kapoor and Manjot Singh. Especially the silent conversation scenes between Ram and Rajat are a treat to watch. Finally the most impactful visible aspect of the movie remains its climax where Rajat along with his writer Anurag Kashyap and director Motwane defines the meaning of their title "UDAAN" in an exceptional way. In fact the concluding scene of the movie is capable of lifting up every viewer from his seat in sheer joy.

Coming to the invisible but in my opinion the most important aspect of "UDAAN", which puts it in a completely different league, is the way it expresses the need of A MOTHER in every child's life. The film makes you feel the incomparable role of a female or a mother in a family who cannot be replaced by any amount of love, compassion or care provided by the other members. A mother, who can finish off all the differences in a family with her kind presence, love and calmness. A mother, who in disguise is just GOD living in our homes for taking care of us in the needy times. And a Mother whose debt we cannot repay in any form in our whole life on this planet.

Both the director and the writer need to be congratulated on this hidden aspect of the movie which may not strike all the viewers at first. But if you can think for a moment, then all the sufferings in the movie are only there due to the missing factor in the family called "MOTHER".

So, in a way "UDAAN" also makes you realize this Biggest Gift of God to the mankind by very softly portraying the fact that a family becomes completely dry and stiff in absence of a motherly abode. I hope the film encourages every son or daughter to remember that they are blessed to have their mothers around them in this tender age and they do take care and love her to the best of their abilities forever. Summing up, its a recommended flick since it has an important message for all fathers and families having their kids in the adolescence age. And indeed a must watch for its invisible merit, indicating the role of a Mother in a happy family.

(The movie right away moves into my "Movies To See Before You Die" list cause it makes you realize the most precious gift of God to us and that's our Mother.)