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By Taran
Adarsh, September 7, 2007 - 02:00 IST
 It's difficult to strike a balance if you sail in two
boats. APNA ASMAAN tries to do that and ends up being
neither here [appealing to lovers of serious cinema],
nor there [appealing to those with an appetite for
commercial fares].
Debutante director Kaushik Roy chooses a serious theme
to begin with and you expect him to stick to realism
as the story unfolds. But somewhere, in between, the
film changes lanes and moves away from the core issue.
What it sets out to narrate [a moving story of a young
boy] and what it eventually narrates [the ills of
wealth] come across as two different stories packed in
one film.
In a nutshell, it's the writing that lets the film
down, yet again. How one wishes Roy would've stuck to
the serious issue, instead of spicing up the
proceedings in the second hour.
The movie is about today's urban aspirations as
represented by a young couple living in Mumbai. The
wage earner [Irrfan Khan] works in the field of
plastics. His wife [Shobhana] gives up her early
promise as a classical dancer in order to settle into
marriage, which is threatened when their only son [Dhruv]
turns out to be autistic.
His condition distances the parents, the father torn
with guilt and the mother craving success points from
him. But a drug works wonders on the boy, but at a
severe cost.
 APNA ASMAAN mirrors certain truths. You identify with
the goings-on initially. The portions involving the
child and the anxiety of his parents are captivating.
The sequence of events that lead to an angry Irrfan
Khan injecting the 'Brain Booster' to his son is the
highpoint. But things deteriorate the moment the son
opens his eyes and become a genius within minutes. Now
what was that?
That's not all! He becomes a great mathemagician and
starts indulging in all kinds of vices. He even
disowns his parents. That's where the writing goes
haywire. How and why does he get such negative traits
are left unexplained.
The end too is bizarre. The culmination to Anupam
Kher's character, plus the son being administered the
antidote and the sequences thereafter are difficult to
absorb. Actually, it seems quite bizarre.
Director Kaushik Roy knows the technicalities right,
but it's the writer in him that lets the director
down. Music is strictly okay. Cinematography [Barun
Mukherjee] is alright.
Irrfan Khan is good, not excellent -- something that's
expected from him, keeping his body of work in mind.
Nonetheless, he's brilliant in the sequence when he
loses his temper and injects the booster. Shobhana
does a fine job. Anupam Kher's character is
half-baked. Rajat Kapoor is sidelined. Dhruv is loud.
On the whole, APNA ASMAAN has precious little to
offer.
Rating:- * 1/2
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