By:
Taran
Adarsh,
IndiaFM
Friday,
September
07,
2007
It's
difficult
to
strike
a
balance
if
you
sail
in
two
boats.
Apna
Asmaan
tries
to
do
that
and
ends
up
being
neither
here
[appealing
to
lovers
of
serious
cinema],
nor
there
[appealing
to
those
with
an
appetite
for
commercial
fares].
Debutante
director
Kaushik
Roy
chooses
a
serious
theme
to
begin
with
and
you
expect
him
to
stick
to
realism
as
the
story
unfolds.
But
somewhere,
in
between,
the
film
changes
lanes
and
moves
away
from
the
core
issue.
What
it
sets
out
to
narrate
[a
moving
story
of
a
young
boy]
and
what
it
eventually
narrates
[the
ills
of
wealth]
come
across
as
two
different
stories
packed
in
one
film.
In
a
nutshell,
it's
the
writing
that
lets
the
film
down,
yet
again.
How
one
wishes
Roy
would've
stuck
to
the
serious
issue,
instead
of
spicing
up
the
proceedings
in
the
second
hour.
The
movie
is
about
today's
urban
aspirations
as
represented
by
a
young
couple
living
in
Mumbai.
The
wage
earner
[Irrfan
Khan]
works
in
the
field
of
plastics.
His
wife
[Shobhana]
gives
up
her
early
promise
as
a
classical
dancer
in
order
to
settle
into
marriage,
which
is
threatened
when
their
only
son
[Dhruv]
turns
out
to
be
autistic.
His
condition
distances
the
parents,
the
father
torn
with
guilt
and
the
mother
craving
success
points
from
him.
But
a
drug
works
wonders
on
the
boy,
but
at
a
severe
cost.
Apna
Asmaan
mirrors
certain
truths.
You
identify
with
the
goings-on
initially.
The
portions
involving
the
child
and
the
anxiety
of
his
parents
are
captivating.
The
sequence
of
events
that
lead
to
an
angry
Irrfan
Khan
injecting
the
'Brain
Booster'
to
his
son
is
the
highpoint.
But
things
deteriorate
the
moment
the
son
opens
his
eyes
and
become
a
genius
within
minutes.
Now
what
was
that?
That's
not
all!
He
becomes
a
great
mathemagician
and
starts
indulging
in
all
kinds
of
vices.
He
even
disowns
his
parents.
That's
where
the
writing
goes
haywire.
How
and
why
does
he
get
such
negative
traits
are
left
unexplained.
The
end
too
is
bizarre.
The
culmination
to
Anupam
Kher's
character,
plus
the
son
being
administered
the
antidote
and
the
sequences
thereafter
are
difficult
to
absorb.
Actually,
it
seems
quite
bizarre.
Director
Kaushik
Roy
knows
the
technicalities
right,
but
it's
the
writer
in
him
that
lets
the
director
down.
Music
is
strictly
okay.
Cinematography
[Barun
Mukherjee]
is
alright.
Irrfan
Khan
is
good,
not
excellent
--
something
that's
expected
from
him,
keeping
his
body
of
work
in
mind.
Nonetheless,
he's
brilliant
in
the
sequence
when
he
loses
his
temper
and
injects
the
booster.
Shobhana
does
a
fine
job.
Anupam
Kher's
character
is
half-baked.
Rajat
Kapoor
is
sidelined.
Dhruv
is
loud.
On
the
whole,
Apna
Asmaan
has
precious
little
to
offer.