{"id":7590,"date":"2016-06-17T13:32:24","date_gmt":"2016-06-17T08:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590"},"modified":"2016-06-17T13:32:24","modified_gmt":"2016-06-17T08:02:24","slug":"uunchai-review-a-restrained-emotional-drama-that-tugs-at-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=7590","title":{"rendered":"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\nH<\/span>istorically, Hindi cinema has had far too few films with senior citizens as protagonists. In fact, the sub-genre probably got a bit of a bump when Amitabh Bachchan embraced his age, and because he never stopped being the kind of actor worth writing roles for. Now, with Bollywood\u2019s unprecedented loss of form in terms of telling stories (not to mention the ostensible focus on targeting \u2018youth\u2019), the trailer of Sooraj R Barjatya\u2019s Uunchai<\/em> might have made it feel like a film out of time and place. In fact, the trailer holds nothing back. It tells you exactly what to expect in terms of plot, and you get exactly what you expected. And that is perhaps the film\u2019s surprising, winning formula. This is a movie that strums some of the most primal social emotions we feel, with a firm commitment to the values \u2018Brand Rajshri\u2019 has come to be associated with.\n\n

The Kishore Kumar song fits the film like a glove. After all, it is an instantly hummable melody that talks about life in the simplest of opposing metaphors \u2013 \u2018dhoop\u2019 and \u2018chhaanv\u2019, \u2018haar\u2019 and \u2018jeet\u2019.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nIn Uunchai, the Laxmikant-Pyarelal number \u2018Ye Jeevan Hai\u2019 is often used as a thematic element \u2013 something to remind the three \u2018aged\u2019 men at the centre of the plot about their recently departed friend, Bhupen (Danny Denzongpa). Bhupen hails from Nepal, and he tries hard to goad his three BFFs into joining him on a trek to the base camp at Mt. Everest. He even secretly books tickets for the four of them to go in a couple of months. But he passes away. The three friends \u2013 Amit (Amitabh Bachchan), Javed (Boman Irani) and Om (Anupam Kher) \u2013 decide to honour him by scattering the ashes of his mortal remains off the Everest Base Camp, which itself is a gruelling trek to nearly 18000 feet above sea level. The Kishore Kumar song fits the film like a glove. After all, it is an instantly hummable melody that talks about life in the simplest of opposing metaphors \u2013 \u2018dhoop\u2019 and \u2018chhaanv\u2019, \u2018haar\u2019 and \u2018jeet\u2019. These aren\u2019t binaries, but the kind of extremes that bookend the moods of life. We tend to spend most of our lives between such extremes. It is this kind of heartfelt simplicity that makes Uunchai feel like a revival of sorts for the Bollywood family drama.\n\nIronically enough, this might just be Sooraj Barjatya\u2019s youngest-looking film since his debut Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)<\/em>, because this is probably the closest to a recognisable reality he has ever depicted on screen. No palaces and princes here, no one uses \u2018jal\u2019 in conversations. Uunchai makes the faux-youthfulness of Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon<\/em> and Vivaah<\/em> seem like they happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Also gone are the clunky families of his 90s films. Earlier, if he wanted a beautiful fictional town in his story, he named it \u2018Sundar Nagar\u2019 (and shot it abroad). Today, when he wants to present a seemingly insurmountable challenge to his senior citizen protagonists, he gives them Everest. They travel by road from Delhi, with pitstops at Kanpur, Lucknow and Gorakhpur along the way, for various reasons. Uunchai thus feels like his most rooted film yet. Still, neither has Barjatya strayed from the transparent, uncomplicated emotions he holds dear, nor has he departed from the easy accessibility that is a hallmark of his craft.\n\n

Despite the emotional undercurrent simmering throughout, there\u2019s a light-heartedness to the screenplay that feels like a breath of fresh, cold mountain air.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nThe X-factor here, for me, was the sheer restraint on display. Of Barjatya\u2019s seven films to date, Uunchai is the one that seems least like a theatrical soap opera. The stakes involved for these older, mature characters are established early. The older you are, the more unpredictable life will be. And some friendships last beyond a lifetime. That being clear, the trio (with some co-passengers in tow, whom I\u2019ll get to) set off on their road trip soon enough. In the UP leg of their journey, you learn that sometimes big joint families are just not able to sustain anymore. And sometimes, children tend to prioritise their own lives over their parents\u2019. But the film isn\u2019t in the Baghban<\/em> mould. Despite the emotional undercurrent simmering throughout, there\u2019s a light-heartedness to the screenplay that feels like a breath of fresh, cold mountain air. The focus remains on working towards the emotional high of the climax, once the menfolk achieve the objective they\u2019ve set out for. (It is only right at the end, after the singular event driving the film is completed, that Barjatya succumbs and gives us a large, unwieldy \u2018family\u2019 song-sequence.)\n\nThe male central characters here seem familiar, without being too stereotypical or coming across as caricatures. Bachchan\u2019s Amit is a youthful old man, willing to learn and adapt, the one pushing the reluctant others towards following through on Bhupen\u2019s plan. Kher\u2019s Om is the irritable one, the traditionalist ready to snap at a youngster who thinks even slightly different from him. Irani\u2019s Javed straddles the line between the two \u2013 noncommittal in every situation, until he is forced to commit. Each of them is nearly faultless, etching these characters out as real, separate people. All three do get the odd moment to ham it up as well, but these are actors who know how to overplay to good effect; they know where that fine line lies.\n\n

Even though they aren\u2019t paired opposite each other here, Uunchai will make you yearn for the definitive Amitabh-Neena film, something that truly synthesizes movie-magic out of their respective skills and auras on screen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nThere are also three vastly different female characters in this story. Javed\u2019s wife Shabina (Neena Gupta), a mysterious fellow passenger named Maya (Sarika), and the young woman managing the trek, Shraddha (Parineeti Chopra). Thankfully, Gupta gets a lot more screen time than she did in the recent Goodbye, which also starred Amitabh Bachchan. Even though they aren\u2019t paired opposite each other here, Uunchai will make you yearn for the definitive Amitabh-Neena film, something that truly synthesizes movie-magic out of their respective skills and auras on screen. Sarika\u2019s Mala and Parineeti Chopra\u2019s Shraddha feel like the most under-written of the lot, but they still manage to leave their impact.\n\nUunchai throws up no major surprises during its hefty runtime (over 150 minutes). The points it makes are simple, its lasting takeaways will warm your heart, and it plays out much like how one would want their beloved elders to attempt something like a long, difficult mountain trek. Slowly, gently, with unshakeable confidence in the present moment. After a long time, it felt like a Bollywood movie reclaimed the oft-missing integrity, and the penchant for pressing the right buttons while telling a simple story.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sooraj Barjatya returns to weave a simple, yet emotional narrative that hits all the right notes and is symbolic of the Director\u2019s signature approach to cinema.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[702,11852,141,11671,2027,313,11797,1788,11853],"class_list":["post-7590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-amitabh-bachchan","tag-anupam-chopra","tag-bollywood","tag-boman-irani","tag-movie-review","tag-pop-culture","tag-recommendations","tag-review","tag-uunchai-review"],"yoast_head":"\nUunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sooraj Barjatya returns to weave a simple, yet emotional narrative that hits all the right notes and is symbolic of the Director\u2019s signature approach to cinema.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sooraj Barjatya returns to weave a simple, yet emotional narrative that hits all the right notes and is symbolic of the Director\u2019s signature approach to cinema.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-17T08:02:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pradeep Menon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Sooraj Barjatya returns to weave a simple, yet emotional narrative that hits all the right notes and is symbolic of the Director\u2019s signature approach to cinema.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pradeep Menon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7590#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7590\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pradeep Menon\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/73840e4bc7ecb8da6f5c391718a40156\"},\"headline\":\"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-17T08:02:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7590\"},\"wordCount\":1156,\"keywords\":[\"Amitabh Bachchan\",\"Anupam Chopra\",\"bollywood\",\"boman irani\",\"Movie review\",\"pop culture\",\"Recommendations\",\"Review\",\"Uunchai Review\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pop Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7590\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7590\",\"name\":\"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-17T08:02:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/73840e4bc7ecb8da6f5c391718a40156\"},\"description\":\"Sooraj Barjatya returns to weave a simple, yet emotional narrative that hits all the right notes and is symbolic of the Director\u2019s signature approach to cinema.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7590#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7590\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7590#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/73840e4bc7ecb8da6f5c391718a40156\",\"name\":\"Pradeep Menon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/79916c68e689a95d5e3218f3fefa84a44853939a6f6adf03dd7a34ae7dc20765?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/79916c68e689a95d5e3218f3fefa84a44853939a6f6adf03dd7a34ae7dc20765?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/79916c68e689a95d5e3218f3fefa84a44853939a6f6adf03dd7a34ae7dc20765?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Pradeep Menon\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=459\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart","description":"Sooraj Barjatya returns to weave a simple, yet emotional narrative that hits all the right notes and is symbolic of the Director\u2019s signature approach to cinema.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart","og_description":"Sooraj Barjatya returns to weave a simple, yet emotional narrative that hits all the right notes and is symbolic of the Director\u2019s signature approach to cinema.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-06-17T08:02:24+00:00","author":"Pradeep Menon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart","twitter_description":"Sooraj Barjatya returns to weave a simple, yet emotional narrative that hits all the right notes and is symbolic of the Director\u2019s signature approach to cinema.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Pradeep Menon","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590"},"author":{"name":"Pradeep Menon","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/73840e4bc7ecb8da6f5c391718a40156"},"headline":"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart","datePublished":"2016-06-17T08:02:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590"},"wordCount":1156,"keywords":["Amitabh Bachchan","Anupam Chopra","bollywood","boman irani","Movie review","pop culture","Recommendations","Review","Uunchai Review"],"articleSection":["Pop Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590","name":"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-17T08:02:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/73840e4bc7ecb8da6f5c391718a40156"},"description":"Sooraj Barjatya returns to weave a simple, yet emotional narrative that hits all the right notes and is symbolic of the Director\u2019s signature approach to cinema.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7590#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Uunchai review: A Restrained Emotional Drama that Tugs at the Heart"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/73840e4bc7ecb8da6f5c391718a40156","name":"Pradeep Menon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79916c68e689a95d5e3218f3fefa84a44853939a6f6adf03dd7a34ae7dc20765?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79916c68e689a95d5e3218f3fefa84a44853939a6f6adf03dd7a34ae7dc20765?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79916c68e689a95d5e3218f3fefa84a44853939a6f6adf03dd7a34ae7dc20765?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Pradeep Menon"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=459"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}