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Cast:
Ruslaan Mumtaz, Sheena Shahabadi, Neena
Gupta, |
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Satish Kaushik, Rajat Kapoor, Sushmita
Mukherjee |
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Year:
2009 |
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Music:
Anu Malik |
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Lyrics: Sameer |
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Dialogues:
Jainendra Jain |
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Editor:
Hemal Kothari |
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Banner:
Karol Bagh Film Entertainment, Sony Pictures |
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Producer:
Bharat Shah |
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Director:
Satish Kaushik |
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| Director
Satish Kaushik shows great courage in picking up such a
topical and sensitive topic of teen love and pregnancy in
his film 'Teree Sang'. While the director's sincerity and
conviction are laudable, one just wishes that he would have
continued to hold on to that courage till the end of the
movie and not suddenly shifted gears and gone the cliched
Hindi film route of lovers escaping from their parents house
and trying to set up home. That kind of escapist fare
defeats the purpose, intend and power of the movie. Granted
that film directors are not supposed to be social reformers
but there is a lot that art can do to interpret life and
give it a new meaning. One just wishes that Kaushik had
stuck with his original intent and made a more realistic
movie. |
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It's obvious that his film would have invited
comparisons with the Hollywood hit flick 'Juno', but
it is definitely not a remake or a Hindi
interpretation of 'Juno'. The subject matter of both
films may be similar but their treatment is too
different for them to be compared on the same
platter. The best thing about 'Teree Sang' is that
for the first time the issue of teen pregnancy is
being addressed by mainstream Hindi filmmakers. That
by itself lends the film a certain distinction. In
totality, the film makes for interesting viewing. |
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The film's story briefly is about Maahi (Sheena
Shahbadi), the only child of an upper class family, the
Puris (Rajat kapoor and Neena Gupta) and Kabir (Ruslaan
Mumtaz), the son of middleclass parents (Satish Kaushik and
Sushmita Mukherjee). The 15 year old Maahi and the 17 year
old Kabir go on a camping trip over the New Year where they
get intimate after getting carried away by a drink too many.
The second half of the movie deals with the trails and
tribulations that the young teenagers go through and then
how they realise the implications of their act. It is, as
if, they are suddenly forced to grow up and become adults.
In that sense, 'Teree Sang' is quite like a coming of age
movie.
The first half
of the movie is actually quite delightful as the director
proceeds to explore the teenage love and their respective
family backgrounds. In fact, some of the best performances
of the film come from this half. The veterans Kaushik,
Sushmita, Neena and Kapoor are perfectly cast in their
respective roles as the parents. They are a delight to watch
and it is difficult to judge who is the best amongst them.
Kaushik really invests the first half with much warmth and a
lifelike quality. The class distinction is brought out
wonderfully by the director as is the conflict that arises
between the two set of parents. |
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But in
the second half, which has the lovers on the run,
Kaushik resorts to cliched Hindi film
sentimentalism. This half of the movie immediately
brings to mind the escapist fare of so many teenage
love stories, where we have the young lovers on the
run from opposing parents. It doesn't ring true and
is quite inconsistent with the first half of Kaushik's movie. But Kaushik tries to get the film
back on track towards the end and succeeds to a
great extent. |
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Despite the inconsistencies in the film and its
cliched second half, the film still has a certain
freshness to it. The teen romance bit is well
handled by the director as is the pregnancy issue.
But there are many more aspects of the problem that
could have been highlighted by the director, who
seems to dilute the issue after a point. The film's
music has been composed by Sachin Jigar and has a
youthful sound to it. The film has been shot well
and moves at a fairly decent pace.
The two
youngsters, Ruslaan and Sheena are perfect for their
roles. Ruslaan is perfect as the ordinary, boy next
door and he makes full use of his unconventional
role to display his acting prowess. The young girl,
Sheena, too is perfectly cast. She puts up a very
confident performance. As for the veterans, they
seem to steal the show. Rajat Kapoor and Neena Gupta
as the affluent couple put in very natural
performances. Kaushik and Sushmita as the parents of
the boy, share a wonderful chemistry on screen and
are quite a treat to watch. Actor Anupam Kher makes
his presence felt despite the brevity of his role.
'Teree Sang' may not have the trappings of a
potboiler but it is a film which has something to
say. Despite diluting the subject to an extent,
Kaushik does manage to make his point. |
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