Udaan

Udaan is the story of Rohan Singh (played by Rajat Barmecha), a 17 year old aspiring writer. After getting caught on a night out watching  Kanti Shah ke Angoor (a blue film I'm guessing), Rohan and his 3 friends are expelled. Rohan is apprehensive about what's coming next for him. His father hasn't visited him once during his 8 years away at boarding school. Once home, he comes face-to-face with a kid half-brother he never knew he had. He quickly learns what is expected from him-a degree in engineering and a monotonous career in his father's factory.

His literary dreams are repeatedly squashed by his father, Bhairav Singh (played by Ronit Roy) who is an alcoholic and a smoker with rage issues. He demands his children address him as 'sir' and obey his stringent rules as long as they want to live under his roof. There is only possible future for Rohan- that which his father sees for him.

The movie is about a teenager's rebellion against an unreasonable force of authority, a subject that is visited often in cinema. Rohan is an interesting enough teenage character although I wish the actor looked a little less cherubic in the movie. I mean:

                                           
He enjoys the thrill of his nightly adventures and takes pleasure in his poetry. The built up angst in him occasionally comes out in the form of hard-hitting dialogues directed towards his drunk father. The easiness with which Rohan forms a bond with his newly discovered kid brother amidst all the family drama is heart-warming.

While Rohan played his part well, the highlight of the movie for me was his father's character,  Bhairav Singh. In him we see the different shades of a man who has learnt many of life's lessons the hard way. He is not an entirely cruel bastard. There is a part of him that loves and cares for his children and has big hopes for them. He has been weighed down by the miseries of his life- his own harsh upbringing, the death of his first wife and the failure of his second marriage. He is unable to find light in his life anymore. 

Ronit Roy has pulled off this character beautifully. Instead of an archetypal 'cruel father', this movie shows us a tired man with layers of good and bad in him. I'm now a Ronit Roy fan!

The movie is definitely worth a watch!