Review : Yahaan

Ad-film maker Sircar’s first foray into films, Yahaan is one long stretched-out film. The subject tries to straddle both romance and war in one go, and that’s difficult to carry off with aplomb. Full marks to Sircar for trying. Unfortunatly, he doesn’t succeed. Although the film on the whole is decently-made and displays sensitivity, the pace is EXTREMELY slow (I nodded off a couple of times). Another turn-off was the bluish tint of the film – gave it a dull, depressing aura. As beautiful as the Kashmir valley is, seeing it in real color would probably have added the much-needed sparkle to this movie.

Captain Aman (Shergill) is a fearless army-man posted in Kashmir. Humane Aman protests against his superior, Major Rathod’s (Tiwari) callous disregard for human dignity and earns his wrath. Also via the medium of tea and torches, falls for local girl Adaa (Lamba), and she for him. The attachment is opposed by her father, and the locals who are wary of the Indian army, and outsiders.

Meanwhile, in the line of duty, Aman is captured by terrorist Shakeel (Sharma), who is Adaa’s brother. Adaa, in desperation manages to rescue Aman from Shakeel. However, when Adaa and Shakeel’s relationship is known, Aman is suspected and brought up for a court-martial for having links with terrorists. How the mess gets resolved makes for quite a shaky and far-fetched second half.

Sircar handles sensitive moments well; I suspect he might churn out quite a tender love story. However a weak script, filmi dialogues (especially towards the end), and the S-L-O-W pace sink this film. The actors do well; Shergill is as earnest as ever and Ms. Lamba makes an impressive debut as innocent Adaa. Yashpal Sharma plays to the hilt the role of Shakeel, and portrays his shaky convictions well. Other characters’s like Adaa’s dadi and Major Rathod also act ably. Character definition is not as slick – especially Adaa’s. Sometimes shy and sometimes caustic, her character seems to veer from an innocent valley girl, subject to the insecurities of new-found love, to that of a tenacious-willed woman, willing to go public about her “un-acceptable” relationship.

The music has a very Kashmiri flavor to it, but the songs, save one, aren’t really worth remembering. The locales are of course beautiful, and the director displays Kashmir well. I wouldn’t really recommend this film, inspite all the things going for it, because of it’s lackadaisical gait (where’s an editor when you need one ?). However, if attempting to watch :

– Do not view film from a supine position, ensconsed in cosy comforters (as I did) or all will be lost.
– Do keep large reserves of patience at hand. They will be needed.
– Persevere and thou shall see the end of this film !