Movie Review: Shikaara

Producer/Director- Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Star Cast- Adil Khan, Zain Durrani, Sadia, Faisal Simon and Priyanshu Chatterjee

Rating- ***

Poem on celluloid!

Jyothi Venkatesh

Shiv (Aadil Khan) is a teller of shairis and romantic nazms, open to the possibilities of words and worlds, and lives in a metaphorical dreamland teaching literature at a local university in Srinagar, where he’s grown up. He has a loving simple wife, a caring friend and a house that glows with the warmth of home. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Shikara unfolds as a promise, framed around the romance of romantics.

The floating shikaras on the Dal Lake, with the houseboats lining the backwaters, have been the backdrop for movies featuring yester year stars like Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore dancing-romancing and Shiv and Shanti bring back memories of a more innocent time when things were calm, and the Hindu Shiv’s best friend could be a Muslim (Simon) who wanted to play cricket for the Indian team.

Though the pace is very slow, Vidhu Vinod Chopra succeeds in churning out a poem on celluloid with his lyrical narrative which engulfs you with its own special charm. Vidhu Vinod Chopra tries to open wounds of the Pandits, who had to take refuge in make-shift camps in Jammu, and are scattered all over India but are still unable to go back to their roots in Kashmir , which is a grave issue which is also very personal to the director.  Staying true to the 90s era and the hostility prevalent during that period, he systematically rolls out his historical romantic drama through an innocent love story between two perpetual optimists.

Shiv writes a letter every day to President Bush asking him to come to the aid of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, and in parts the film also reminds you of Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s film Mere Pyare Prime Minister where the protagonist -an eight-year-old boy dreams of building an indoor bathroom for his mother and writes to the prime minister of India, asking for help to improve conditions in his poor neighborhood and is invited to the capital for a meeting with the Prime Minister himself.

Adil Khan and Sadia live their roles impeccably while Zain Durrani has very little scope to prove his talent. Priyanshu Chatterjee is good in his cameo role as Shanti’s brother. The music and background score (A.R Rahman and Sandesh Shandilya) of ‘Shikara’ is like the much needed soothing balm for the soul, with able support from lyricist Irshad Kamil.

In short, Shikara is all about love that stands the test of time, war and conflict and will resonate in your hearts in conflict ridden 21st century, with its simple narrative which tugs at your emotion and heartstrings

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Adil Khan, Zain Durrani, Sadia, Faisal Simon, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Movie Review, Shikaara