Yuva, which was released on May 21, 2004 is that rarity which can be watched both as an entertainer and a vehicle for projecting socio-political ideas. The easiest thing in the world is to sneer at someone who attempts to be unconventional through conventional routes. In that sense, Mani Ratnam and Michael Mukherjee, his protagonist in his latest film, share the same predicament.
Like Ajay Devgan’s fascinating character, who wants to bring about a change in the social order, Ratnam’s cinema signifies tremendous leaps in the way we perceive popular entertainment in this country.
A riveting blend of social message and entertainment is what sets Yuva apart. Like Ratnam’s first Hindi film Dil Se, Yuva is an extremely restless film about young characters who are on the lookout for a relevance to their existence. While Michael wants to use student power to change the festering fortunes of Indian politics, the loutish Lallan (Abhishek Bachchan) just wants a decent life for his wife Shashi (Rani Mukherjee) and himself, and never mind if it’s through indecent means.
The third and most blithe-spirited protagonist, Arjun (Vivek Oberoi), is a commitment-phobic self-seeking wannabe whose plans of making millions in the US go flat when he meets the mesmerising girl-next-door Meera (Kareena Kapoor). Each protagonist extends a fidgety power into the narrative.
Among the many absorbing facets to Ratnam’s storytelling is the way he uses time passages in the lives of the various characters and the delightfully inventive modes of plotting, whereby different perceptions are simultaneously projected into the various characters’ line of vision. These are proof of a mind that creates cinema through literary devices.
You can almost read between the lines that Ratnam crosses from one protagonist’s life into another. The effect is of sea waves lapping against the shore and receding to leave behind tempting tides of significance.
The three-tiered plot creates a sense of lyricism in the plot. Every character fits in the Kolkata milieu without stretching in the larger picture. Yet the existence of the binding cosmic force that keeps watch on Ratnam’s world and the world beyond his creation looms large over the narrative.
The gangster Lallan (Abhishek Bachchan, in one of his career’s best) and his volatile blow-hot, blow-cold relationship with his wife Shashi echoes Manoj Bajpai and Shefali Chhaya’s rapport in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya. But beyond that echo of familiarity is an aching originality in every frame, nurturing the characters through a remarkable process of self-discovery.
Unlike Dil Se, whose narrative couldn’t really hold the audiences, Yuva keeps us glued to the goings-on till the very end, not because it tells a remarkably original story but because the characters come alive here as complete people, full of little gestures and understated personality traits that we may miss at first.
Yuva is like a visit to an exotic and warm tropical island. At first, the sights and sounds may appear too familiar for excitement. But every shrub and every rock hides a new experience. It’s that subterranean experience that “Yuva” brings to the surface.
Ratnam goes from one level of characterisation to another, weaving in and out of three lives without creating an autonomous self-contained world for each protagonist. The men who tower over the plot are also the tools in the hands of destiny. More than a film about ideas (so well conceived and executed you wonder why any other filmmaker didn’t think of it) Yuva is a walloping entertainer.
It’s simply impossible to forget the three protagonists and their mesh of karmic adventures. The romantic side to the political parable about a student leader, a hit man, and a drifter is brought out so sharply in so little space, you wonder if economy of expression is Ratnam’s mainstay.
Vivek Oberoi counts Yuva as one of the best experiences of his life. “It was my second time working with the Maestro Mani Ratnam, or Mani Anna as I fondly call him. I don’t think I’ve had so many 4 am wake up calls on any other film in my 22-year career, constantly in search of that magic hour as the sun rises for that perfect shot. The camaraderie among the three of us, with Ajay the big bro leading the fun both on and off set, was amazing. We shot in Kolkata. The delicious Bengali food and mishti, of course, and the outpouring of love from the beautiful people of the City of Joy. Working with friends like Rani, Bebo(Kareena) and Esha, it felt like an extended family through the tribulations of making a clutter breaking film. The film had so many cross-references with our real lives at the time. The dance between aspiration and frustration of the youth of India. Taking me back to my college days, replete with the challenges of student politics, I was constantly drawing from my experiences as the general secretary of the student union of the university of Bombay .still Bombay back then. The journey of the escapist Arjun was like so many friends I knew who were now in a “happy place” in the West, far away from the challenges of home. The curse of the brain drain our nation faced at the time.”
With the joy in the City Of Joy came the pain, acute pain. “This was also the film that took me through a personal journey of evolution. That evening when a perfectly fun day turned into pain with a terrible motorcycle accident breaking my left leg in three places. I remember my big brother Ajay and my buddy Abhishek at my side, carrying me to the hospital, being by my side through the agony of broken bones tearing through my skin with blood everywhere. The worst was yet to come. I came to know Mani Anna had a heart attack after witnessing my accident. Whilst both of us were recovering in the hospital, Ajay and Abhishek were with me, lifting my spirits with jokes and painkillers in a not-so-lucid state. After many complications, four months later, it felt like a reunion on the sets. The entire unit lifted my morale while I limped through shooting the songs ‘Fanaa’ and ‘Anjana Anjani’. Sometimes I wonder how we pulled it off. Yes, indeed! Life came full circle when I felt that surge of gratitude, standing on stage, receiving the awards for my portrayal of Arjun. A poetic culmination of a tumultuous journey. Yuva is easily one of the most memorable films in my career. An inspiring film and an inspiring journey for me. So grateful that life made me a part of such a great film.”
