Barah Aana Movie Review: This One's Worth a Lot More

Director Raja Menon's Barah Aana is a film which picks as its protagonists, three unlikely heroes, a driver, a waiter and a watchman. He narrates a story of the angst of this class of faceless people, who proceed to extract their pound of flesh in the course of the movie. The film has been written by the Aamir director Raj Kumar Gupta, and tells a story which is moving and humourous at times. One of the best things about this film, besides Naseeruddin Shah and Vijay Raaz, is the underlying humour and irony which runs through the movie. Not always of the sunny kind, it is this humour which proves to be the saving grace for the protagonists and stops them from descending into despair. It imparts a certain grace to the movie as well.

It's not an easy life for the three protagonists, Shukla (Naseer), the driver, Yadav (Raaz), the watchman and Aman (Arjun Mathur) the waiter. As they stumble through their lives, they decide to indulge in a certain amount of foul play, as fair means have never really given them anything, and take to the world of crime. Not only does it help them to fulfill their material needs, it also gives them an opportunity to hit back. All three have pressing concerns. If Shukla has been keeping quiet and bearing up with the obnoxious behavior of his mistress, then Yadav needs to send home money for his child. Aman has a crush on an Italian drug pusher, who he believes can become his. What starts of as a one time thing, gradually becomes a matter of habit, and then a way of life for the trio. But things take a dramatic turn when the usually reticent and quiet Shukla decides to kidnap his mistress.

The director devotes the first half of the movie to the introduction of his characters and the trials and tribulations that they face in their respective lives. The movie moves at a slow pace in this part, but picks up noticeably in the second half.

Barah Aana is an extremely well written film, very taut, with the just the right proportion of irony and humour, which saves it from descending into the realm of self pity. Besides this, the film really works because of its performances. All three protagonists excel in their portrayal of three embittered souls trying to eke out an existence of some dignity in Mumbai. But there is no doubt that Naseer really grabs all the honours. He has a role in which he speaks very little but still manages to convey it all with his expressions and body language. He is just brilliant as the bullied and humiliated driver. Raaz's angst ridden Yadav is another riveting performance. Arjun Mathur, Violante Placido and Tannistha Chatterjee too show a lot of promise and provide very good support to the lead actors.

Raja Menon's 'Barah Aana' turns out to be quite an interesting movie, specially because of the manner in which he has treated his subject. The sometimes wry, sometimes stark humour, coupled with the excellent performances, is what makes this movie eminently watchable. He is well supported by his technical crew, including cinematographer Priya Seth and writer Raj Kumar Gupta.