Without the love story this would have been a disaster.

Grade: C+

Tum Mile

Indian Release Date: 13/11/09
CBFC Classification:  U/A
Running Length: 2 Hours 15 Minutes

Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Soha Ali Khan, Mantra, Sachin Khedekar
Director: Kunal Deshmukh
Screenplay: Ankur Tiwari
Cinematography: Prakash Kutty
Music: Pritam Chakraborty

‘Disaster-movies’ 99% of the time tend to concentrate on the calamity they depict, so nifty effects, characters stuck in precarious situations, a sense of danger by constantly racking up the tension is what’s paramount to their success. The characters are normally cardboard cutouts & run from one situation to another like cattle for slaughter. What if a ‘disaster-movie’ went in the opposite direction & made the characters more interesting than it’s depiction of the catastrophe at hand, what would it be called? The answer to that question maybe, Tum Mile.

The trailers for Tum Mile, are completely misleading. Even though it’s been marketed as a disaster movie it’s actually a love story which only uses the 26th July 2005 Mumbai rain floods as a backdrop for a part of the film. The “disaster” sub-plot could have easily been removed or replaced with something else & the story wouldn’t be affected one bit.

Akshay (Emraan Hashmi) & Sanjana (Soha Ali Khan) happen to bump into each other on a flight to Mumbai on the 26th of July 2005. Even though they were once upon a time in a serious relationship while living in South Africa they haven’t seen each other for the past six years. The narrative then cuts back and forth between their relationship years back & the current time in Mumbai with the gathering storm in the background.  

By far the strong point of Tum Mile is Akshay & Sanjana’s love story told mostly through flashbacks. Even though the tale is a updating of the “rich-girl-poor-boy” template it’s competently developed & credit has to be given to the ample time invested in the relationship for it to grow & create a connect with the audience. In spite of some heavy-duty Bollywood style melodrama the chemistry displayed by the two leads plays a major role in making the affection seem genuine though the portions set during the deluge seem without spark compared to the flashbacks.   

The deluge sequences on the other hand look kind of convincing from far off panning shots of the city but the moment the action moves in close to capture what’s happening on the streets things get more than a little tacky. It’s almost like whoever wrote it wasn’t really there on the streets when it happened nor did they do any sort of actual research into what was the ground reality & that’s more than a little difficult since all of Mumbai’s populace was directly affected by the flood in some manner or the other. Any sense of despair or real danger is replaced by unintentional humor or disbelief in the way the manner in which the scenes of the cataclysm play out & thankfully they are kept to a minimum to avoid a major embarrassment. Scenes of the school kid perpetually waiting to be rescued at every step or the ‘ready-to-clap-at-every-incident’ crowd or the scene straight out of Titanic (1997) or even the ‘chai-wala’ who’s preparing his tea while being submerged up to his shoulders make the entire proceedings look more preposterous than a parrot in a pie.

The songs are easy on the ears & are shot in such a manner that they gel well with the narrative. The technical aspects like the effects work well in parts (Arial shots of the rain soaked city) but look very crude in others (the electrocution scene or the bus toppling scene).

Emraan Hashmi & Soha Ali Khan are the film’s biggest assets. It’s their convincing portrayal of the characters, each with their distinct personality & little quirks that goes a long way in lending a sense of credibility to their relationship. Mantra is adequate in his role though he does tend to overact in places but at least he doesn’t get on your nerves. Sachin Khedekar pops up in one scene as Soha Ali Khan’s dad & is gone before you know it.  

Tum Mile & Kunal Deshmukh’s previous film Jannat, share more than a few things in common. Both are primarily love stories set against the backdrop of some real life incidents (Bob Woolmer’s death & the match fixing scandal in Jannat), both movies have a large chunk of their stories set in South Africa, both the movies have relationships in dire trouble due to incorrigible differences between the couple, etc etc. From the looks of his two movies Kunal Deshmukh’s forte seems to be updating old-fashioned love stories & not recreating real-life incidents.

Don’t be fooled by Tum Mile’s marketing campaign & if a disaster movie is what you crave for then probably go & watch 2012 but if an effective love story with some good acting is what you want then do watch Tum Mile.

Final Verdict: Tum Mile is not a disaster movie though without the love story it would definitely have been a disaster.

Grade: C+

| More...