The horror of July 11, 2006, successfully created in the minds of the audiences, yet again

Hats off to Nishikant Kamat, the director, for daring to make an engrossing film out of a dark, tragic subject like this-the Mumbai train blasts. Each moment of horror and pain is recreated impressively on screen and one can feel the consuming agony of those killed and those who lost their dear ones in the horrific blasts two years ago. The film is five stories woven into one, a trend suave filmmakers like Sanjay Gupta (Dus Kahaniyan, Metro) are choosing to follow these days. The only difference is that the ten stories narrated in Dus Kahaniyan didn't grow up on a common pretext, but in Mumbai Meri Jaan, the characters, though unrelated are impacted by a common pretext that makes their suffering so interwoven and common, yet unique. Soha Khan as a journalist, Madhavan as corporate executive, Kay Kay Menon as a struggling 'Madrasi' coffee-vendor and Vijay Maurya, as an equally confused policeman have all delivered live-wire performances, but Paresh Rawal as a police constable on the verge of retirement, and a witness to the aftermath of the bloody incident stirs you completely through his performance. Soha Khan, who plays a journalist in the film, is hit by the crisis after she loses her fiancee in the train blasts and realizes the futility of her profession's favourite catch-line, 'aapko kaisa lag raha hai...' The characters of the film are well-drawn and bound together by a powerful script. Though the narratives move back and forth from one character to another, the film is well edited and cinematographed. The dialogues are crisp and hard-hitting. Nishikant Kamath's debut film in Tamil was Evano Oruvan, a remake of his Marathi movie, Dombivli Fast, starring Madhavan and Sangeetha. Kamath makes his Hindi debut with Mumbai Meri Jaan, a tribute to the never-say-die spirit of Mumbai.