The Dark Side Of Life: Mumbai City Review: A Hardhitting Tale That Touches Upon Issues We Come Across Everyday!

 My Verdict: A Must Watch Film That Makes Sure You Get Rid Of Your Hypocrisy And Come Face To Face With the Dark Side of Life As We know It

3.5 stars Out Of 5

The film is surely a dark take on the lives of the people of Mumbai. A reality check like no other. The issue is we as audiences take cinema to be a form of escapism. We at times are completely oblivious to the varied aspects of cinema. And with this film, the makers have tried to draw the attention of the viewing public in that zone.

The film makes the viewer uncomfortable. There is no whitewashing and sugar-coating of facts. They are just the way they are and truly, there’s no harm in seeing the stark reality! Mind you, people who are getting offended and are raising questions are probably the ones who felt the slap on their faces was too hard.

The Dark Side of Life Mumbai City showcases vignettes pertaining to different strata of the society, people with different mindsets, backgrounds and demeanour. Another thing worth noticing is - this demeanour I am talking about is again shaped by the events that have perhaps shaken them from within and have shaped them into what they are!

‘Zindegi Mein Haarna Par Zindegi Se Na Haarna’ – It is okay if you fail in life but be sure never to give up on it! Unfortunately, just the opposite happens, there are far too many people who give up on life – end up committing the deadliest sin of committing suicide! And the statistics shown in one of the slides before the film begins depicting the number of suicides committed globally and, in the country, reinstates that even more strongly!

The characters are etched out very nicely, the warped psychology of some of the people in the film gives you a Deja vu feeling of having met or passing by one such character in your personal life! And it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state, that is an achievement in itself.

So, there is a cop who has problems sleeping with his wife, opens up in front of a shrink saying that during his childhood when he was once caught smoking by his teacher, the latter sexually molested him. The ironical part is such a man who is ashamed of himself that he can’t perform on the bed, is a racist!

A man in his late sixties Zulfikar Hussain played by Mahesh Bhatt who has opened up his own dwelling for the homeless lot of the city, suddenly finds comfort in a struggling singer Prince, played by Avi Pardasnii who doesn’t have a place to stay yet hopes to make it big in the world of playback singing   

There is a stockbroker played by the very talented Kay Kay Menon has pooled in crores for what he believes to be a great investment. There is a middle-class couple Anand and Parul played by Nikhil Ratnaparkhi and Jyoti Malshe who find themselves neck deep in debt and they also have car parking problems in the cooperative society they have rented an apartment in, precisely because the society members forbid tenants from parking their vehicle in the building premises.

And how can you forget the terrifying cop Warren Lobo played by Deep Raj Rana who is unforgiving and ruthless especially to a Kashmiri couple who is profiled within hours of arriving in Mumbai and accused of terrorist activities. Again ironically, the cop who looks so tough and manly from outside also has his own weaknesses, a weakness that his loud-mouthed wife lets out in the open very pertinently, “Mard Who Hota Hai Jo Bahar Bhi Mard Ho Aur Bistar Mein bhi.”

And the girl who in the garb of doing group studies snorts does lines of Columbian talc is without second thoughts the loudest of them all – So just moments after snorting a line she says “zindegi Mein Kuch Kick chahiye.”

All the characters in the vignettes are intermingled and have a common strain. Now what that is, you need to go and find out for yourselves.

The film is directed by Tarique Khan has literally reeling everyone in sheer agony! The little nuances that others term to be preachy are in fact revelations that most identify with yet they don’t want to admit. Should we call it hypocrisy? You decide! Kay Kay Menon is a performer par excellence and he has maintained his style and has lived up to his name! Every scene is injected with a certain amount of seriousness and depth that is barely seen in films nowadays! The cherry on the cake was Mahesh Bhatt’s endearing performance that was a bit of respite in the otherwise morbid tale! People have started talking about mental issues like depression and with films like these that don’t shy away from such topics deserve appreciation!       

All in all a lovely example of filmmaking (and I repeat) is more of a slap on the audience’s hypocritical faces, watch it if you have the guts to watch something that is hard-hitting and true to the core!