Udaan

Regent Square: May 10 @ 6:00PM, May 14 @ 4:00PM

Passes not accepted on Opening/Closing Night. Please arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of start time to ensure availability of seating. Film schedule and Q & A's are subject to change.

2010/India/Director: Vikramaditya Motwane/134 min
Cast: Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor, Rajat Barmecha, Manjot Singh
Language: Hindi
Festivals and Awards: Cannes Un Certain Regard Nominee 2010
A universal language shared with the world, this coming-of-age tale is told with such maturity and care that the viewers become much more than an audience…they become participants.
Borrowing a slice from everyone’s life, Udaan makes them into a first-hand account of a troubled teen facing a tyrant father, a step brother he never knew existed and the journey to free himself from a world that’s slowly suffocating him.
Recently expelled 17-year-old Rohan returns to his small industrial town after being abandoned for eight years in boarding school. A young man whose sanctuary is found writing poetry by the rail tracks, Rohan is forced to work in his father’s steel factory and study engineering, his dreams of becoming a writer unwillingly pushed aside. It isn’t until he comes to know that his step-brother had to be hospitalized after a beating from his father that Rohan decides to break free from the clutches of his father.
With performances and a story so real and consciously clear of commercial interest, the earnest film grounds itself in reality. Described as poignant, unsettling and disturbing, it is a brilliant take of an adolescent defying expectations and seeking out the passionate gems of life that are too often abandoned. The powerful performance of the lead, played by Rajat Barmecha, is spellbinding. With superb writing as his guide, the young actor’s journey to freedom is universally relate-able.
Without giving its own “twist” on the coming of age tale, the language and heart of the simple plotline are not just seen, but are felt and universally understood in a way that is rarely seen. The only Indian film to feature in 2010’s Canne’s Un Certain Regard category, Udaan is also the first Indian film to feature in the category in almost 16 years.
Realistic to the core, the characters are handled with such care that the story reaches inside the audience with a firm grip that loosens only when the credits have scrolled and the screen is black.