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Mehrooni - A Must Watch Short Movie |
The Scottish dramatist and novelist James M. Barrie had once opined,
"If you have love, you don't need to have anything else;
If you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you do have".
That's true. Few things can give us greater happiness than true love. Of course, if it's not true, it's not Love! But does true love exist today? We do come across it every now and then - in romantic literature and movies. But what about in real world? Well, certainly not as often as one might expect, given the times we live in - when almost everything has become conditional! Moreover, in this fast-moving age, lust and infatuation is often confused with Love. And once the initial charm wears off, quite a few people fall out of love just after a few years of matrimony. Probably because one or both the partners didn't do enough to nurture and build their emotional connection. So it's understandable for one to be cynical about love-bliss. Nevertheless, I still believe that true love exists even today. Had there been no love, the world would have ceased to exist.
I had read somewhere that true love isn’t found, stumbled upon or fallen into; rather it is built, gradually and with great care. So true that is! This short film - 'Mehrooni' - is one such tender and poignant portrayal of true love that will surely resonate with any person who has ever been in love. I'm a sucker for emotional love stories and 'Mehrooni' is one. Although 'Mehrooni' in this short film, denotes a deep maroon coloured sweater that gets knitted, row by row each day, on a Mumbai local train but it actually depicts true love between a particular couple who board and travel together on that train. Their story is narrated and shown from a fellow commuter's perspective who keenly observes them while travelling in the same local train from Andheri to Bandra stations every day. Not knowing their names, he refers to them as Mr. and Mrs. Sharma. He observes that once seated in the train, Mr.Sharma would start going through the day's newspaper while Mrs. Sharma would take out a ball of deep maroon coloured wool and start knitting a sweater for Mr. Sharma. This continues for quite a few days and at the same time, the size of the sweater being knitted by Mrs. Sharma too grows in size.
But suddenly, the couple were conspicuous by their absence in the local train for the next few weeks. Then one fine day, the fellow commuter is surprised to find Mr. Sharma standing alone at the same station but without his wife accompanying him like always. Mustering courage, he walks up to him to know about her whereabouts. That's when Mr. Sharma reveals with a choked voice that his wife had passed away. She was seriously ill for some time, suffering from cancer, but still used to accompany him during his train journey to his office, just so that she could spend that one hour with him every day!
Some movies can literally move you to tears, I tell you. Especially that last scene where Mr. Sharma is seen wearing the deep maroon coloured sweater with an unfinished right sleeve. For all those who appreciate subtlety, meaning, and emotional impact, 'Mehrooni' is a must watch film for you. In fact
this movie reiterates that true love exists, even when one's partner isn't around anymore. Although it's a simple love story simply told, but the deep love and the emotions behind the story will make one believe again in true love. I wish more of such movies were made, I will surely recommend one to watch Mehrooni, it is definitely worth checking out.
Written, narrated and directed by Faraz Ali, the movie certainly strikes a chord with the viewers. Acting performance wise, Sharib Hashmi as Mr. Sharma and Kristine Zedek as Mrs. Sharma have also done a commendable job with their honest and real potrayal. The title track "Mehrooni" sung by Rekha Bhardwaj and composed by Arijit Datta is equally heart-touching. The movie was actually shot on a Nikon D5000 DSLR camera! It’s amazing how a 9 minutes-long film can have such a profound effect on our perception of true love. I am sure couples like Mr. and Mrs. Sharma still exist in this world.