Barah Aana Movie Review: Barah Aana is aimless

Barah Aana is a story of three people who resides in the Dharavi slum of Mumbai. Though the movie has been directed well by the Raja Menon, there is nothing novel in the plot, which begins to follow a clichéd route. The storyline of three people frustrated with their lives thinking of an easy route to success has been seen in many movies, the latest being C Kompany.

Story of Barah Aana
Vijay Raaz works as a watchman of the building. The rich folks of the building use him to run their daily errands as well. Arjun Mathur works as a waiter in hotel. He develops a crush on the sexy looking Italian customer Violante Placido, who is actually a drug peddler. Naseeruddin Shah works as driver for a rich family. He is abused emotionally and even accused of robbery by the wife of his boss. When Vijay Raaz’s child falls ills at his village, he knocks every door in the flat for money but no one obliges. His two friendsdo pitch in, but that aint enough. In frustration, Vijay Raaz hits a man who mocks at him. He then brings the injured man to his house and the trio decided to kidnap him and demand a ransom amount. It works, and since then, the three friends decide to kidnap some or the other person and demand money. Finally, they decide to do one last crime, before they give it all up. But do they really succeed this time?

Plus points of Barah Aana
The movie is well directed and the screenplay is well executed. The slum ethos and their daily routine of waiting for water and ablutions is deftly captured. Also the slum lingo and half broken English is well brought out. One of the best scenes in Barah Aana is when Arjun proposes to the phirang girl with the common place, “I am saying you that I like you” The best track is the one between Arjun Mathur and his object of affection Violante Placido. One wishes that there were more scenes involving them.


Minus points of Barah Ana
Once again a clichéd plot with nothing new to offer. The second half which is better than first half loses its grip and the movie drifts aimlessly. By the end you get the feeling that the movie is simply much ado about nothing. The story can be summed up in one line: Three frustrated souls kidnap people for their livelihood, but do they really get lucky everytime? Naseeruddin Shah hardly utters three dialogues in the film but his performance as usual is top notch. But his silence gets grating at times, robbing you of the very thing Naseer is famous for: dialogue delivery

Performances:
With some great actors around, you can expect fireworks. Of the three, Vijay Raaz scores the highest. He is simply class apart, he looks(with no disrespect to the man) the part of the ‘watchman’, he has played the role so well, that you can’t imagine anyone in his place. Naseeruddin Shah is great and he shows that he can be effective when silent as well. The dusky but edible looking Tanishaa Chatterjee does her part well and Violante Placido looks mesmerizing. Arjun performs his part brilliantly.

To sum it up:
There have been better films on the theme of Kidnap. Barah Aana sadly ends up as a wanna-be.