A Restless Mind

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz, Arjun Mathur, Tannishtha Chatterjee

Director: Raja Menon

Barah Aana doesn't boast A-List celebrities, but the veteran, Naseeruddin Shah leads a talented cast in this low-key comedy-drama which has a duration of only 90 minutes and has no songs. Barah Aana used to denote an amount of money before the use of cents as a unit of currency in India.

Synopsis: Meet Shukla (Naseeruddin Shah), a man of principles, he is a driver and is always being treated as a lesser human being by his employers. Now meet Yadav (Vijay Raaz), a watchman who is similarly bullied by the rich upper middle-class families who employ him. Finally, there is Aman (Arjun Mathur) who is a young waiter and in love with this white woman who regularly visits the cafe where he works. They are all victims of the arrogance of the upper classes of Mumbai, but they are good friends and enjoy one another's company. One day, Yadav's life is turned upside down when he desperately needs money so that his son can go to a city hospital for a medical examination. Inadvertently, he finds a way to make money fast and dig himself and his friends out of poverty.

Remarks:

• First and foremost, the cast. For such a low-budget movie with no songs and no extravagant special effects, the cast have to carry the movie. And boy are they excellent! We all know about Naseeruddin Shah, he is still a consistent performer who achieves high standards. Vijay Raaz whom I first noticed in the magnificent Monsoon Wedding is absolutely breathtaking. Funny as hell, he delivers his lines in such an original way and makes the character his own. Arjun Mathur is the relative newcomer. He was in Positive, Farhan's Akhtar's short film about AIDS awareness and also in Luck By Chance. He is a rising star oozing with talent. He should be big in a few years' time if he makes the right choices in terms of movies. Here he is excellent as the young and dynamic Aman.

• The story is simple, yet emotions run quite deep. It's a short movie, so it never gets boring or seems like it's dragging on for ages. It has no complex segments, with one or two twists here and there. Overall, it flows pretty well. I personally hate it if a movie has too many twists or un-necessary glamourous bits. That's why Barah Aana was a great watch. A nice cool relaxing movie which also exercises your brain cells.

• The direction is not worldclass, but it's very decent for someone whom I had never heard of before! He seems pretty disciplined and pays attention to details. I will be looking out for him in future.

To summarise, Barah Aana is a feel-good movie about real-life miseries. It has very genuine and realistic characters who immediately make you feel like you have known them all your life. It's not the film of the year, but it's refreshing to see new talent grace the big screen, because it's not all about the big stars. More and more of these kind of movies are being made and it can only be beneficial for Bollywood because the glamour and glitz becomes tiring after a while. And too often are experiments and risks shunned in the name of commercial success. I highly recommend this movie for those who, like me, love movies which succeed in fascinating you with the strength of acting performances and unconventional stories without having recourse to stars.

Movie Rating: 3.5 out of 5