Yeh Mera India (2009)

Very Cool!!!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

To put it nicely, I have really disliked most of N.Chandra's films and the only thing that attracted me to 'Y.M.I. Yeh Mera India' is the cast. Even the title gave the impression that this was going to be another sensationalist overtly patriotic flick. Yet, with names like Seema Biswas, Parizaad Zorabian, Rajpal Yadav, Rajit Kapur, Sarika, Parvin Dabas etc. how bad could it be? So, 'Y.M.I. Yeh Mera India' is actually so bad that it's funny. The narrative structure attempts to follow that of Paul Haggis's 'Crash'. Even though this film is not a rip-off, it did remind me of Haggis's movie. Thus, there are multiple stories that are all interlinked. It attempts to tackle the theme of prejudice and does a miserable job at it. The forced happy ending is hilarious and not for the 'happy' reason. Every one of these stories are so excessively exaggerated that they feel like a parody. Most of the 'characters' are caricatures. The horrendous voice-over obliged me to press the mute button. Given the poor level of writing, I can imagine how the actors might have struggled with acting or whatever. The tagline states 'Behind Every Bad News... There Is Good News...'. Well, this is just bad news.

A handsome effort to showcase the real essence of India above politics, communal ism, plastic world and recently famous regional issues. A must see for a person who loves sensible movies.May be the movie does not have good box office collection or popularity but the it is awesome to see the dramatization. Offcourse bulk of characters are from theaters so comparatively the acting standards are very high. Another attraction of the movie is the punchlines and dialogues delivered by praveen dabas it made the fellow artists speechless... Hats of the N Chandra and i still believe that there are some people who still believe in delivering sensible work rather than commercial nonsense.Cheers readers!!

Released with the least possible promotional campaign,"Yeh Mera India" showed the glimpses of its powerful content in the promos itself. And as promised it thankfully delivers a quality product with many thoughtful sequences, questioning the social double standards of our society. In other words, it is the most important movie of 2009 since it talks about some burning issues and forces the viewer to think about his life and the actions he might have taken in the similar situations.It belongs to the same genre of movies which talk about different inter-connected stories in a collective manner, as seen earlier in "Firaaq", "Mumbai Meri Jaan", "Metro", "Crash" (Eng) and more. The style may seem to be a bit repetitive, but it's the quality of the content which makes the movie appreciable and worth watching. It intelligently starts with a T.V. News highlighting the major incidents occurred during a particular day and then takes you back into a series of flashbacks giving the detailed accounts of each incident individually.In the initial moments, it may seem to be a deliberate attempt by the director but as the stories develop, you start relating to them easily. The first half builds a clean ground for all the characters interlinked with each other. And as you are well familiar with the plots, it takes you into an explosive second half where every story is fast moving towards its own boiling point. In few words, the post interval proceedings turn the movie into a solid commendable effort by both its writer and the director.The well written script, surrounding a complex web of relationships, touches almost every important social issue of the current times. It talks about communal hatred among the people, class differences in the society, rich exploiting industrialists, gangster's extortion mafia, Jihaadi Movement in the country, misguided younger generation, mean political leaders, TRP driven channels, Migration problems in the Metros, Muslims Denied Flats in Mumbai, Profit motives of the Hospitals, Medical Negligence by the Doctors and also the Spiritual Heritage of our country.It may seem impossible to incorporate all the above mentioned plots in one movie alone, but director N. Chandra remarkably performs this tough task and that too with a great conviction and class. He is back in form again roaring like a lion with his own specialized genre of movies based on intense social problems. Chandra brilliantly handles each individual story with an equal importance and makes you feel the pain felt by all his character simultaneously. The hard hitting and impactful execution by the director leaves a solid impact on the viewer as he walks out of the theater.Not going into details of each storyline, I would like to mention the most beautiful and important sub-plot of the movie involving a doctor, a judge and a victim harmed by the Medical Negligence of his doctor. The story teaches us the art of forgiving in a very pleasing manner. It explains the real meaning of the word empathy and its importance in our gifted short lives. I don't remember any other movie talking about this subject in a more expressive way than "Yeh Mera India". So, among all the other sub-plots, I rate this particular part of the movie as the most impressive and well directed one having the power to stay in your minds for long.Talking about the performances, you can feel the heart and soul put in by all the actors performing in the movie. Thinking about each story individually you remember every single actor giving one of the best acts of his career including the veterans Anupam Kher, Rajat Kapoor and Seema Biswas. N. Chandra has splendidly extracted worth praising performances from his entire star-cast including the ones playing their minuscule roles. Though there are certain characters that tend to go over the top at times, but still it creates a good overall impact collectivley. The song less movie also gets well supported by its soothing Background Score, fine Cinematography and crisp to the point editing.Another worth mentioning ace is the use of "Urdu Shayri Couplets" incorporated with a background voice over, after every important incident in the movie. The deep meaning of the few lines spoken at an appropriate time, increase the overall impact of a sequence to many folds. (However the selection of the couplets could be a lot more inspiring.) So, if you love the thought of living together as brothers, if you can feel the importance of the remaining years of your life and if you believe in sharing what you have in your possession, then "Yeh Mera India" will surely make you feel much better. The movie is not only about India alone, but it is about every country existing on the globe facing problems. It talks more about the concept of Universal Brotherhood and the urgency to understand its need in the current times. On merit basis, as it was "Mumbai Meri Jaan" in 2008, there is "Yeh Mera India" in 2009. Just go for it now!

This film explores the life of typical Indians. It shows how one bad day comes and how problems are tackled another day. It shows how we create problems by not taking over the responsibility of our character. N. Chandra has done a great job with character development and handling different characters so beautifully. I was never bored for a moment. Dialogues were great and sensitive issues were handled with great care. Although melodramatic factor seems obvious, but I think truth is stranger than fiction, and in real life, things could seem more melodramatic if we shoot these on cam.Another story like this was taxi 9211, but this was far better. It touched various issues of human beings and were better handled with logical comments and justification in the end.I gave it a 9, because I think the movie could have been a little shorter. There was some extra time spent on scene elaboration. However, it was a great movie. Maybe, it won't do much good on box office. But, for me it will be a cult classic.