Mausam | Hindi Film | Bollywood Movie Reviews

Perception of art is different for different people. A poetry loved by one may not be liked by the other. A masterpiece for one may be just some abstract lines for the other. It happens often that by relying on others, or based on the commercial success or praise we may avoid something really classic or even go for something not worth going for. It happens with movies also. For example Agneepath was not a box office hit when released, nor Mera Naam Joker or even Pyaasa too. There are many more examples. Sometimes we got to understand the quality of the stuff over the time.

Mausam – literally can be translated as Season – is the movie spread over various seasons. They are the seasons of life, there is the spring of love in a village of Punjab, there is the summer of violence in Gujarat, there are monsoons and winter too. But there is one season which lives throughout, that is the season of love. Pankaj Kapoor is one of the most acclaimed actors of the Indian Film and TV fraternity and no two thoughts on the same. Now he came with his directorial debut, Mausam. Of course the movie was released a while ago, but without watching the same, writing about it, is injustice to various aspects. Let us see if Director Pankaj Kapoor succeed in his first venture. Here also the perception of success can be different for different people. To me if the director succeed in his exploring his vision properly on the celluloid it is the success for the director. If people got what they want for their money and time, when watching a movie, it is a success for the viewers. If a producer receives his financial goals from the movie, it is producer’s success. If an actor’s performance is praised and satisfied himself, that is the actor’s success. Ditto for the music and other segments.

Let me say first and foremost that, after a remarkable amount of time, we see the picturisation of a village in the film which is overwhelming. The togetherness of the people, the innocent relations, the joyous life, the shared responsibilities and much more. When you see Shahid running a cycle, you see a village boy there instead of him and that is what we miss actually in today’s movies. Mostly urban setups and masala dragging us away from the root of the India and that is what we are going to visit here. Which we love. Those bicycles which we grew up with, those sugarcane farms and chasing the trains, we miss it definitely in the fast urban life.

Harrinder Singh aka Harry is a happy go lucky village boy living in a small village. Life has its own meanings for Harry. He shares a typical brother-sister relationship with his sister and lives joyfully with his friends. He though is waiting for a letter from somewhere. We later knew that it was from the Indian Air Force of course. It was bad time for Kashmir, the Vally with heavenly beauty was trapped into the terrorism. Not only Kashmiri Pundits but also genuie Muslim families too had to left their homes and run away. Aayat was sent to her aunty (his father’s sister)’s home for safety. His father was also on the way to fulfill some stuff and reach there. She meets Harry in the course of various events and gradually they developed a bond of friendship and later love. The time of spring ends with the monsoon there. When Harry’s sister’s marriage ceremony was over the season also changed.

There comes the time when the Babari Musjid demolished and people were living in tention which affect Harry-Aayat lives too. There comes the time when the Kargil war was there. There comes the time when the riots took place in Gujarat. All the events affect their lives in different aspects. But at the end they two despite from belonging to the different religions and communities gets united. They got married then. When the credits end we see that Squadron Leader Harvider Singh and his wife Aayat are expecting their baby. So we can say the Mausam is again changed to spring of love for them!

This is not just a movie, it is a poetry on celluloid. Of course it has its ups and downs. The post interval sections might look lengthy or filmy but there are no two thoughts about the quality the movie offers. In the first half of the movie, you will never feel detached with the same. The honest picturisation of the village and the life there is the high point of the same. When Aayat and Harry communicating with each other without speaking words by using some cards when Aaayat was tattooing Harry’s sister; is really splendid. Harry with the help of his friends decorating street for his sister’s marriage and sound made due to that, reflected as the fear on Aayat’s father’s face. It is the reflection of the times he passed through. The panchayat scene where one additional fellow came and due to the missing chair, the efforts to arrange them keeps smile on your face. These innocent actions of the Punjabi’s portrayed well. It proves that in order to make one laugh or smile, you need not to be vulgar at all. Other remarkable scenes are (but not limited too of course) Harry helping Gulzari in getting his horse cart out of mud and his face got dirty, which makes Aayat laugh. When Aayat was talking to her father on phone, and just saying yes, and keep crying is the nice picturisation of father-daughter bond. How Harry and his group innocently ditches the car of an elder in order to have some fun, is a nice sequence. Harry innocently misuses a girl’s feelings for him to feed his friends at her restaurants without paying money is also must to mention. One thing I like is the scene where Harry overtakes the train is film without any melodrama and showing it from various angles. Also must mention scenes include the riots where Harry instead of saving himself and Aayat, also saves a horse and a baby girl. Actually most of the scenes are having its own unique quality, and represents a human quality.

Shahid Kapoor’s performance is excellent. Sonam Kapoor tried well. For the last scene of the movie, I must say that a pregnant lady doesn’t walk like her. The direction is first rate. Pankaj Kapoor kept himself away from being a major character in the movie. It is a wise decision which make him direct the movie properly and comfortably. Supriya Pathak Kapoor is first rate. All the supportive cast members delivered praisable performance. The music is the delight to hear. Only the song in the last credits is not matching with the movie nor it creates any impact. Pankaj tried saying a lot with the movie. If the second half is made better, the movie could be considered as a masterpiece. Nevertheless, just watch it. It is much better than some commercial hits we had seen recent which have just two-meaning dialogs, skin shows and some useless stuff.