Aashayein

Practically every new-age film-maker wants to attempt a real story on celluloid. Stories which are straight out of life/newspapers/news channels. These stories, generally, strike a chord with the ticket buying audience if narrated convincingly and most importantly, narrated within commercial parameters.

Nagesh Kukunoor has been a frontrunner as far as choosing and narrating real stories are concerned. Aashayein too seems like 'our' story. Here's a man who suddenly discovers that he has a few months to live. The indomitable spirit of living life to the fullest, under all circumstances, is what you expect from him. But Aashayein gets so bizarre and abstract that you feel anesthetized after a point. Sadly, you don't react to the characters, you don't react to the film either.

Like Kukunoor's previous attempts, Aashayein is sensitively told and has several poignant and heart wrenching moments, but the story strays from realism and ends up being a fantasy, which leaves a sour taste in your mouth. The entire Raiders of the Ark track, with John imagining himself in Harrison Ford's boots, is weird.