Aashayein 2010 Movie Review

Movie: Aashayein 2010 Movie Review

Practically every new-age film-maker wants to attempt a real story on celluloid. Stories which are straight out of life/newspapers/news channels. These stories, generally, strike a chord with the ticket buying audience if narrated convincingly and most importantly, narrated within commercial parameters.

Nagesh Kukunoor has been a frontrunner as far as choosing and narrating real stories are concerned. AASHAYEIN too seems like 'our' story. Here's a man who suddenly discovers that he has a few months to live. The indomitable spirit of living life to the fullest, under all circumstances, is what you expect from him. But AASHAYEIN gets so bizarre and abstract that you feel anesthetized after a point. Sadly, you don't react to the characters, you don't react to the film either.

Like Kukunoor's previous attempts, AASHAYEIN is sensitively told and has several poignant and heart wrenching moments, but the story strays from realism and ends up being a fantasy, which leaves a sour taste in your mouth. The entire RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK track, with John imagining himself in Harrison Ford's boots, is weird.

Final word? AASHAYEIN just doesn't meet the aashayein [hopes] of the viewer.

At a party to celebrate his big win at gambling, Rahul [John Abraham] proposes to his girlfriend Nafisa [Sonal Sehgal]. Within minutes of announcing his engagement, he collapses on the floor. After a medical diagnosis, Rahul discovers that he has only a few months left to live. He is diagnosed with lung cancer.

A distraught Rahul learns of a hospice and without sounding off his girlfriend about it, packs his bags and leaves in the middle of the night. He meets a number of people at the hospice, who may have failing health, but unfailing spirit.

For millions of viewers worldwide, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's classic ANAND [Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan] remains one of the best films on the matchless spirit of a person diagnosed with a terminal illness. The person in question [Rajesh Khanna] knows he doesn't have much time on hand and decides to spread light and cheer all around.

Though AASHAYEIN has nothing to do with ANAND [although there's a reference to the film], the least Kukunoor could've done was to narrate the story without getting into the fantasy zone. When you talk of matters as serious as death, when you show people spending their last days in a hospice, you can't deviate from the topic. Even the hospice here looks more like a small-town resort where people have come for a vacation. The seriousness is clearly missing!