Year 2012, Durgapur in West Bengal; around 170 km from Kolkata. On a lazy Monday afternoon, due to a sudden break from the office; I found myself inside the nearby Inox for a Bengali movie. It was Chitrangada, one of the masterpieces of Rituporno Ghosh. Count me, it was only 9 viewers in the auditorium. Leave aside the number, it was more memorable to me as my first ever visit to a movie hall alone.
Jump cut 2022, Hyderabad. History repeated once I planned to watch the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Uunchai alone. Despite being an avid movie watcher in all forms and of all formats, I hardly pen down those due to my sheer laziness. This time, thought to break the shackle. Uunchai inspired me.
It was the same story of conquering odds by doing the right things as we are used to see. You can find hundreds of such examples around us as well as in movies. Then, where is the specialty of Uunchai? Unlike other motivational movies, Uunchai will never tell you to do something willingly, rather it will implant certain qualities inside you to practice it. It’s a leader turned into a movie to drive you. To think that, it is possible. In line with Shiv Khera‘s famous line, “You Can Win”, this Uunchai unconsciously ejected “Yes to Life” DNA into your blood. This is the focal theme of this movie. Throughout nearly 3 hours, it will inspire you to say, “Yes”.
Using a particular song throughout a movie is nothing new, we have so many live examples of such. But the famous song Yeh Jeevan Hai sung by none other than Kishore Kumar 50 years back found a perfect ambiance to be used in the backdrop as many times as possible. This also echoes the “Yes” flavor of this movie.
Talking about the story, it’s of Four Close Friends of 50 years together with ups and downs in life. The string is detached when suddenly one of the friends dies on his birthday night without fulfilling the dream to reach Mount Everest together. Somehow rest three manages to start their journey despite numerous hiccups during trekking and finally landed Everest Base Camp to pay tribute to their lost friend. For inside details, you have to watch the movie.
Coming to the Screenplay, except in some cases, the flow and logic were good. There remains a huge generation gap between new and old, but somehow it has been tackled; could have been better also. Talking about Cinematography, it was 50-50 shots taken in Indoor and Outdoor. Inside decorations were good and people could have a glimpse of Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, and Gorakhpur on the way. The scenic beauty of Kathmandu is worthy to mention as it’s always charming. A good view of Mount Everest will make all happy.
Finally, the Acting. Neena Gupta, with more wrinkles on her face, has no other option but to be the wife of any elder person or become a mother of a son or daughter. Parineeti Chopra as the leader of the trekking team has done well in a brief role. Anupam Kher with his usual rawness and Boman Irani with his flamboyance are enough to hook you up for 3 hours. Amitabh Bachchan, nowadays whatever he does, goes near to perfection. Still, in some scenes, it could have been better; especially the expressions in close-up scenes. Even though we are habituated to having better performance in recitation as per the standard he set for himself. A bit unusual for Mr. Bachchan to recite at a faster speed than his natural one. But, It was a delight to watch Danny after so many years in a different role. I last saw him in Manikarnika, released probably in 2019. The last scene of his all-white dress atop the Everest Base Camp (EBC) silently asking Amit Shrivastava (Amitabh Bachchan) to come will remain the iconic moment of this movie.
Uunchai tells about a Personal, Emotional, and Spiritual Journey that will teach you to overcome your physical limitations. With an IMDb rating of 7.9 out of 10, You can surely pay a visit to watch this on the big screen.