Barah Aana, is a comedy of real life, revolves around a driver Shukla (Naseeruddin Shah), Yadav (Vijay Raaz), who is a watchman and the waiter Aman (Arjun Mathur) who accidentally stumble into a crime and then realize it’s not a bad business.
The story in debutant director Raja Menon’s film Barah Aana is set in today’s Mumbai, where the three unlikely friends: a driver, a watchman and a waiter share a room in one of Mumbai slums.
They are simple, honest people struggling to eke out an existence in the city. The driver is an older man, stoic but dependable. The watchman, in his 30s, is a pushover at work but otherwise mischievous. The waiter is a young, swaggering chap, brimming with ambition. Living together, their different attitudes spark playful banter.
But life isn’t so forgiving – Shukla is constantly ridiculed and ill-treated by his mistress, Yadav is being made to do double shifts and made to run errands all day. The waiter, Aman harbours romantic dreams in his heart about the friendly Italian woman at his café.
When Yadav’s son at his village falls ill and he desperately needs money for the treatment, his pleas fall on deaf ears. It is here that desperation leads to an accidental crime and with it comes a realization. Till now these chaps had tolerated trash from all around them, they now have a way to fight back the system for the dignity that they have been denied so far.
At some point, misfortune befalls the watchman and, due to a series of chance events, he stumbles into a crime. Striking upon a seemingly low-risk way to make good money, and discovering a new sense of self-confidence, he tries to entice the others to join him in a series of such crimes. Cat and mouse games ensue between the three as personalities change, but events soon spiral out of control, leading them in a direction none of them had wanted to take…
Featuring a talented ensemble cast, it is a delightful and comedy film with some great performances from Naseerudding, Vijay Raaz and others. Raja Menon is a great storyteller and his film Barah Aana is based on an original script.
Barah Aana’s story is very different with a novel backdrop and the narration and the presentation progress in tandem. After ‘A Wednesday’, Naseeruddin Shah has a power packed performance and conveyed most through his silence. He has a few dialogues in the climax. Rest of the time, he is shown communicating with his facial expressions and shrugs. Vijay Raaj, who is the most talkative among them and Arjun Mathur are very impressive. Yet another impressive character is the phone-booth owner in the slum played by Tannishtha Chatterjee who makes a fine impact in this film, while Violante suits the bill perfectly.
Barah Aana is a refreshing film that begins at a slow pace, apparently to establish the difficult lives of the three lead actors the characters and to portray the situation. It picks up in the second half and has an interesting and a bit complicated climax. The story is just unpredictable. It’s a puzzle till the end and you never know what’s going to happen next.
Cast of Barah Aana:
Shukla – Naseeruddin Shah
Yadav – Vijay Raaz
Aman – Arjun Mathur
Rani – Tannishtha Chatterjee
Kate – Violante Placido
Mr. Mehta – Benjamin Gilani
Mrs. Mehta – Jayati Bhatia
Cutlet Aunty – Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal
Credits & Crew of Barah Aana:
Banner – Bandra West Pictures
Producers – Raja Menon, Raj Yerasi, Giulia Achilli
Director – Raja Menon
Cinematography – Priya Seth
Music – Shri
Story & Script – Raja Menon
Screenplay – Raj Kumar Gupta screenplay
Film Editing – Hemanti Sarkar
Casting by Nandini Shrikent
Production Design – Anuradha Shetty Menon
Art Direction – Sree Kumar Nair
Assistant Directors – Gaurav Madan, Nishant Menon, Sushma Reddy
Barah Aana, movie review