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Release
date:
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January 19, 2018
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Director:
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Samir Soni
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Cast:
Language:
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Sanjay Suri, Nora
Fatehi, Zenia Starr, Ayaz Khan, Aryan Veir Suri, Pitobash, Purab Kohli
Hindi
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Most people worry about the end
of their youth. What may be just another birth anniversary in the eyes of some,
could turn into a nightmare for those who view the start of a new decade in
particular with dread. In Rajiv Kaul’s case, you can take that literally. A
tragic death – murder or accident? – mars his 40th birthday, but he
wakes up the next morning to find that all seems to be well and that the bloody
episode of the previous night appears not to have happened at all.
Tidbits from that day, however,
keep repeating themselves, in different ways and different settings. At first,
the premise is interesting enough. Has Rajiv slipped through a crack in the
universe and got caught in a time loop in a Groundhog
Day Redux? Is someone playing a cruel joke on him? Is he the victim of a
crime? Is the film capturing the goings-on in the imagination of a mentally
unwell individual? Or is this just a metaphorical depiction of gerascophobia,
the fear of ageing?
When My Birthday Song initially throws up these questions, it evokes
curiosity. After a while though, it reveals that it has little to offer beyond
its clever concept. The repetition of events in Rajiv’s life then becomes
increasingly dull rather than fascinating as it should be, so that by the time
the answer is unveiled, it does not have the desired jolting effect. Ho hum.
Yeah yeah, very smart, but…yawn.
Model-cum-TV-star-turned-debutant-film-director
Samir Soni’s My Birthday Song lacks
punch in its narrative style, depth in its writing and imagination in its
camerawork. Among other things, it sorely needs some layering in its
examination of Rajiv’s crisis of conscience that is a crucial part of this
tale.
Soni has co-produced this film
with his lead star, Sanjay Suri. The screenplay too is Soni’s, with inputs by
Vrushali Telang.
In Onir’s My Brother Nikhil (2005) and Nandita Das’ Firaaq (2008), Suri has shown us that he is capable of complexity
given the right project and director. He is earnest playing Rajiv Kaul in My Birthday Song, but the screenplay
gives him little to sink his teeth into. His co-star Zenia Starr, playing
Rajiv’s wife Ritu, shows some spark that may be tapped in a better film.
This birthday song goes flat too
soon to sustain interest.
Rating
(out of five stars): *
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CBFC Rating (India):
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A
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Running time:
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95 minutes 40 seconds
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This review was also published on Firstpost:
Poster
courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Birthday_Song
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