Boy’s no duffer, but he does need a buffer. Since he doesn’t pass examinations in rainbow colours, he raises the hackles of his Fuehrer-like dad. Sad. So before he gets an earful of invectives, the kid catches a train to be with his small-town grand-dad who’s sweeter than sugarcane, as understanding as a counsellor, and as poetically bestubbled as Gulzar. Warmly, too, at the very outset the film is dedicated to grand-fathers. That extra a notch-above-average half-a-star just for this.
No debates about this. Director Gitanjali Sinha’s Yeh Khula Aasmaan is palpably earnest and thematically valid, making a case for freeing students from performance pressure and unrealistic expectations. Those who don’t get into the 90 per cent-plus bracket could find alternatives which need not be allied to their curriculum vitae. Right. Errr, but the narrative style adopted is relentlessly old-fashioned and formulaic. Throughout, you feel as if you’re in the 1970s greenfields with Sachin-Sarika in gambolfest, produced by Tarachand Barjatya.
Although the boy doesn’t break into song, everyone else does, as if this was a “Geet Sunta Chal”. Grandpa gets to sing a lullaby as well as a let’s-be-jolly ditty, which might be conceptually cheery but in execution prompts you to pinch yourself repetitively. Jagte raho please!
Yes this Aasmaan is one of those: you like it not, you don’t detest it either. At least, someone out there believes that entertainment has a point to make, can exclude star names and nurse ambitions to find an audience, besides ideological support from the cognoscenti. Ergo, you do try to relate to its positive aspects which can be prima-rily sourced in the exchanges between the boy (Raj Tandon) and his doting gaon ka dadu (Raghubhir Yadav). Their hugs, mutual concern and even the dadu’s preaching sessions are sensitively written and directed.
Next, the boy becomes a kite-runner (Khaled Hosseini, please note) of tremendous potential. And here come the awww-no segments: a girlfriend-next-door Muskaan (Anya Anand) materialises to live up to her name with a vengeance. A buddy pops up like Jr Mehmood would once. And shiver your timbers, there’s a Cruella da Village boy who is determined to win the upcoming kite-flying competition. The boy’s parents are in the UK (or the US), but zip down when grandpa falls ill. Climax ho! Lagaan-like, the kati-re-patang contest is on. Very unsecularly, director Sinha makes this a showdown between Hindu-Muslim clans. Oh well.
The best part about YKA are it rural locations, enticing you to leave the hubbub of a metropolis instantly. DOP Vivek Sinha and production designer Alok Haldar use textures and sunlight effectively. Anand-Milind return to the music domain but their score here doesn’t have the bounce or vigour of their vintage hits in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Dil.
Performance-wise, an effortless Raghubir Yadav dominates the show. Raj Tandon as the boy desperate to find his calling card in life, is confident. Yashpal Sharma as the bad dad is convincing too. Not so the others, especially the Muslim family chief, Gulshan Pandey, who makes more funny faces than Jim Carrey.
Truth be told, you’re not likely to carry this Barjatya-style film back home with you. Poof, um… what was it’s name please?