REVIEW: Catch Ranvir in SIRF
The success of any film always spawns a whole lot of imitations. The great business generated by Madhur Bhandarkar’s Page 3 and later Corporate has lead to many similar films. There was Metro by Anurag Basu, which enjoyed both box-office success and critical acclaim. This was followed by Life Mein Kabhi Kabhie (Vikram Bhatt) which flopped miserably. And now we have Sirf: Life Looks Greener On The Other Side a film by debut director Rajaatesh Nayar.
Meet the characters
For a first time director it’s fairly courageous to attempt a complex story, which revolves around four couples that have chosen to build their home in Mumbai. Each couple has to their own share of issues with which they have to struggle. So we have Shalu (Nauheed Cyrusi) and Rahul (Ankur Khanna) who are desperate to get married. But even the rent for a 1-BHK and the deposit is an astronomical sum of money as Rahul is an assistant director.
Then we have Namita (Sonali Kulkarni) and Akash (Ranvir Shorey) who have decent jobs but like most people in the metropolis, both the husband and wife have to work in order to eke out a reasonably decent standard of living. This is fine by itself except they have a daughter who suffers from a congenital heart defect. Yet they are forced to leave their child with the maid for long hours at a stretch.
Thankfully, the third couple does not have any financial problems. But it is this twosome, which is a strange bit of miscasting in the film. Suchita (Rituparna Sengupta) is a young bride from Jabalpur who is clueless about the Mumbai lifestyle. Her husband Amit (Parvin Dabas) loves her a lot but Suchita doesn’t trust Amit. She’s convinced that every woman who looks at him wants to go to bed with him. And her hysteria and melodrama is driving her husband away.
Lastly we have the high profile couple of Devika (Manisha Koirala) and Gaurav (Kay Kay Menon) who are both successful professionals with an opulent lifestyle. But somewhere while chasing success they seem to have lost their hold on reality.
Interestingly, not one person is uncaring towards the others. There is no element of nastiness in any of the characters there are only shades of grey. And each couple must grapple with their tensions, their friction, their insecurities so that they can live happily ever after…
Next: What worked, what didn't
