The best kind of love story there is that of forbidden love. That is why classics like Mughal-e-azam are still so popular and watchable. In today’s world and times, it is hard to find a story of love that is ’’forbidden’’, and to make a film on it based in the times we live in is even harder. If we look at our society today, there are all kinds of examples of inter-racial, inter-class, inter-caste, inter-religious (if there is a term like that!) marriages. Yet, where it comes to love, there is a certain purity in the kind of love that fights against all odds and emerges triumphant. Yahaan, as a film, works on that level, as a love story which truly comes under the category of forbidden love.
Yahaan, is set in our times, in the beautiful valley of Kashmir- a Kashmir which is still plagued with terrorism, where civilians are constantly living in the fear of death, being caught in the tussle between the Indian army and the terrorists.... looking at both terrorists and the Indian army with equal fear. Yahaan is the story of Captain Aman Verma (Jimmy Shergill), who has been posted in these times in Kashmir. There he meets Adaa (Minishaa Lamba), a Muslim (although her being Muslim is only incidental to the story) girl who lives with her father, grandmother and an adopted sister Shri. As Aman is a soldier posted in Kashmir, there are strict rules as to how much contact soldiers can have with the locals. Despite that, Aman and Adaa do manage to get few stolen moments together. In addition to the strict rules against army and civilians forming relationships, there are other obstacles to the relationship including Adaa’s brother, who is the main terrorist protagonist in the film, a commanding officer in aman’s unit who has a personal vendetta against Aman, Aman being linked to the terrorist activities because of his connection with Adaa, and so on. Despite all of that, the two manage to get together in the end, and give a new face to the troubled relationship between the civilians in Kashmir and the army.
The Pros-
The love story angle is in itself a big pro. Like I’ve mentioned, it is hard to justify the forbidden love aspect in a story today..but in this case, there is every reason why the two main protaganists should not be in a relationship. As the audience, you find yourself rooting for the couple and hope things work out.
The cinematography is excellent. The film looks very realistic because of the way it is shot.
Jimmy Shergill as Captain Aman is excellent. Although he does not get a lot of applause worthy dialogue, he communicates a lot with his eyes and expressions. The little girl Shri is also very good.
The music, including the background score, is excellent. The song Naam adaa Likhna does a lot in highlighting the passion between Aman and Adaa.
The Cons-
It is obvious Shoojit Sircar is a debutant director. I got the feeling that he was incredibly impressed and influenced by Mani Rathnam’s Roja. Lots of scenes are lifted from there...the choreography of the song Urzu durkut is very much like that of Dil hai chota sa, the confrontation scene between Jimmy Shergill and Adaa’s brother is very much like that between Arvind Swamy and Pankaj Kapoor....and there are a lot more examples. It isn’t a bad thing to be inspired from a really good film, but the director does not do a good job with those scenes. The whole terrorist angle, the confrontation scenes between the army and the terrorists are all shoddily done and dont pack the same punch that the scenes in Roja did.
The new actress Minishaa Lamba is another sore point. She isn’t annoying or bad. She just isn’t good. She is given a lot of important dialogues in the film, far more than Jimmy Shergill. She has a lot of ’’dramatic’’ moments, which require a very good actress like Madhu in Roja, or a very experienced one....Minishaa is neither experienced nor very good.
Despite all of that, I would recommend Yahaan...in our cynical times, a love story which has you cheering for the protaganists is rare, and very welcome.