Reza Noorani, TNN, Apr 7, 2017, 06.04 PM IST
CRITIC'S RATING: 1.5/5
AVG READERS' RATING: 1.5/5
REVIEW THIS MOVIE
CAST: Ranvir Shorey, Gracy Singh, Rajpal Yadav, Simran Sharma, Yatharth Ratnum
DIRECTION: Suman Ganguli
GENRE: Drama
DURATION: 2 hours 14 minutes
STORY: A talented teenager from a small-town, whose mother is a yesteryear vocalist, gets chosen for a singing reality show in Mumbai. He faces a miserable defeat after which life back home becomes unbearable for him. The movie looks at how the youngster, along with help from his friends and family, starts learning to get over his depression and begins to dream again.
REVIEW: Teenage depression is a serious issue that needs to be addressed and not many Indian films talk about it. So, full marks to ‘Blue Mountains’ for trying to portray a young boy dealing with depression. But have they been successful in making any meaningful impact? Unfortunately, not even close.
To educate the audience on such a sensitive topic through a film, the story and more importantly, the actors need to depict its devastating effects and what it does to a young mind. When protagonist Som Mehra (Yatharth Ratnum) fails in a reality show, he goes back home, locks himself up in his room and doesn’t go to school. The transition from a happy-go-lucky kid to super-glum is depicted in merely a few scenes, without delving into his mindset and reasons for the extreme change. Furthermore, he screams at songbirds (made in CGI) because they can sing, and he can’t. Later, whenever he is asked to sing, he only breaks down and starts sobbing uncontrollably. These scenes are confusing, and come across being unintentionally comedic in nature.
When someone in your surroundings suffers from mental illness, their support system plays a major role in aiding the healing process. However, the supporting cast here seems to be lifted straight from the soap-opera universe. Som’s friends ham it up galore for the screen and worse still, his mother played by Gracy Singh, is completely over-the-top. This ends up being a distraction from the real issue at hand and the movie doesn’t make any effort to deeper to explain the effects of such a dire condition. The only credible performance is by Ranvir Shorey as the concerned father, who comes around to recognise the talent in his son. Sadly, he’s lost among the rest of the parodical portrayals.
‘Blue Mountains’ gets its name from the majestic peaks where Som lives. He believes he’s destined to reach those lofty goals, like this film intends to achieve. While the intent is noble, the execution is far from satisfactory especially when the screenplay is so weak, and the acting so unrealistic. What could have been a good and extremely relevant story, ends up being a frustrating, and often confusing watch.
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