Udaan turns 11: Vikramaditya Motwane’s coming-of-age drama was a realistic tale with a beating heart

Udaan’s 2010 release marked a watershed moment in Bollywood parallel cinema. An unassuming debutant filmmaker took on the story of a dysfunctional family and beautifully portrayed the realities of such traumatic bonds. Vikramaditya Motwane’s cast for the film was also an element of complete surprise with debutants and television actors.

Udaan was about Rohan Singh (Rajat Barmecha) and his journey of self-actualisation. Rohan’s struggles with an acutely abusive father, Bhairav Singh (played by the inimitable Ronit Roy) takes centre stage in the film. The other focus Motwane’s lens chose to dwell on was the bond of two siblings, Rohan and his stepbrother Arjun (Aayan Boradia).

Udaan’s main trope was crisis and the consequences that it has on the lives of Rohan, Bhairav and Arjun. Side characters enjoy their moments under the sun with ample screen space given to each to justify their inclusion in the plotline. Bhairav’s affable younger brother Jimmy (Ram Kapoor) seamlessly enters the story as Rohan’s should-be father figure, who not only embraces his sensitive side, but celebrates it. Also a victim of continual criticism by Bhairav, Jimmy and Rohan share a filial equation.

From the cultural context too, the film released during a year where Hindi cinema was both regressive with films like Dabangg hitting the big numbers, as well as trying to push the boundaries with productions like Paan Singh Tomar, Break Ke Baad and Peepli Live. But Udaan’s pragmatism with a beating heart at its centre was a heady concoction that swept audiences gradually in its old-world charm of small-town Jamshedpur.

Motwane’s protagonist was never a ‘hero.’ His almost-loserish approach to life may even seem completely condemnable by some. But that’s precisely what the filmmaker chooses to address and exterminate. He wanted to show to the world that heroism was not about donning dapper clothes and speaking from positions of privilege, it was more about the decisions you choose to make in life and the will to stick to it.

Bhairav’s abject rejection of Rohan’s life choices and ways of being is never an ultimate deterrent for the boy to grow. He chooses to break away not only from personal torture but also take on the responsibility of Arjun, and that is where Motwane declares that love shall always trump hate. With such a delicate theme at its core, the filmmaker’s shrewd points of view are never clouded. 

He refuses to redeem Bhairav but is careful to include shades of white here and there. When he travels to Shimla to meet Rohan, one is immediately moved by his paternal instincts even though he never musters the courage to talk to his son. Yet, the father never undergoes a character transformation. He chooses to conduct his life according to his stringent dictats and live his days of apparent marital bliss for the third time.

Rohan’s way of dissociating with Bhairav is to finally run away from him, as the father leaves no avenue of freedom. Bhairav refuses to accommodate his children’s wishes and insists they conform to his ways of ‘right’ living. This is possibly what triggers his lack of interest when Rohan confesses, he would like to take up Arts. Bhairav simply asks, “Tumse poochha koi?” Rohan or Arjun’s agencies are not only negated but are promptly obliterated. In making Bhairav this dislikable, Motwane was purposefully making a statement, that people often don’t change.

But that is not to say that there is no light at of the tunnel. In Rohan and Arjun, Motwane injects ample humanity to counter Bhairav’s want of it.

Rohan’s rebellion is never perfect. Much like a novice in a revolution, he stumbles and acts out in impulsive angst. Through his writing, Rohan channelises his voice of insurgence. In a cathartic scene where Rohan woos the hospital staff and patients with his storytelling, Motwane depicts the magical world where the imagination takes a flight of fancy. Through cinematic MacGuffins, the filmmaker keeps reminding his audiences that Rohan’s subtle and patient voice will act out one day, in order to charter his own fate.

Udaan was groundbreaking without being pedantic and had a sensitive core that could melt any heartless soul. It’s no wonder then, that it is still considered one of Motwane’s most nuanced works.