It is a 2009 Indian Hindi film. Written & directed by Deepti Naval. It stars Manisha Koirala, Rajit Kapur & Sanaj Naval.
Juhi, an aging prostitute has a son. She finds it challenging to care of the wheelchair bound boy. Debu, a not-so successful Lyricist, is dumped by his boyfriend & is out on streets.These characters in need of money & love bump into each other. It is pouring heavily & finally it clears to a sunny day.
Deepti Naval is a noted film artist but she has also dappled in work behind the camera.This is her directorial debut. She has cast her nephew in the role of the wheelchair bound son of Koirala. Because she said she couldn’t think of anyone else! Incidentally it is Manisha’s comeback movie.
Guest appearances by Milind Soman, Makarand Deshpande, Rajendra Gupta, Alyy Khan are short. They add to the story.
The art film is to the point & has a comfortable pace. With Gulzar, Deepti Naval as Lyricist the songs have that special flair.
It was screened at 2009 Cannes Film Festival to positive reviews. Review in ‘The Citizen called the film ‘niche’ while praising the performances of three principal characters. Saying ‘But the cream & the cake go to the three characters’.
Winning many accolades, but ‘it remains too niche to appeal to a mass audience’ , as Shoma Chatterji states.
Deepti Naval in an interview wished she had done more films. I disagree. Her body of work remains small but significant. ‘Miss Chamko’ as she was known, has always been a special actor. Such actors can never be liked by the masses. No glamour but natural!
‘The Fundamentals of Caring’ a 2016 American road comedy drama film had a wheel chair bound boy. But this film is based on a 2012 novel. Also the mother is a hard worker. Her profession is never important.
A few scenes , when the boy is lead into the world outside. The joy on the faces is the same. Admiring the world outside, having been denied the feel of the wind or rain on the face, etc. Very similar. Very relatable.
The long title piqued my curiosity & then the stars had me hooked. A good film. Actually I liked both the films. They are very different from each other.
Asian Entertainment 