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Starring:
John Abraham, Sonal Sehgal, Anaitha Nair, Farida
Jalal, Prateeksha Lonkar, Ashwin Chitale, Girish Karnad
Director:
Nagesh Kukunoor
Aashayein is a story of a compulsive gambler who
discovers new meanings of fortune and life through a
dramatic turn of events. It is a tale of Rahul's journey
from darkness to light. A journey about love, hate,
life, death and above all hope.
Rahul Sharma (John Abraham) is an angry, confused,
compulsive gambler. Wishes to live the life he has been
dreaming of.
Sister Grace (Prateeksha Lonkar) will bend her
principles for the greater good. Wishes to dedicate her
life for the happiness of her inmates.
Parthasarathi (Girish Karnad) is a fun loving "uncle" to
everyone. He is stupidly stubborn on his principles.
Wishes to be reunited with his family.
Madhu (Farida Jalal) is an intelligent, virtuous person.
Wishes to just lead a normal life and not be ostracized.
Cast:
John Abraham - Rahul Sharma
Prateeksha Lonkar - Sister Grace
Shreyas Talpade - Special Appearance
Anaitha Nair - Padma
Sonal Sehgal - Nafisa
Girish Karnad - Parthasarthi
Vikram Inamdar - Xavier
Farida Jalal - Madhu
Master Ashwin Chitale - Govinda
Sonali Sachdev - Doctor (at Clinic)
Sharad Wagh - Priest
Nagesh Kukunoor - Rao
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Rahul proposes to his
girlfriend Nafisa (Sonal Sehgal) who is a doting, loving
and a loyal friend. She wishes that love always wins. She
agrees and incidentally the next moment Rahul just
collapses on the floor.
It is diagnosed that Rahul has lung cancer and only a few
months to live. That night without informing his
girlfriend Nafisa, he leaves for a rehabilitation centre
for persons with such incurable diseases. At this sick
home, he meets a number of people, who, like him have a
sliding health, but unfailing in spirit.
It is here, through his interactions with the inmates of
this centre for terminal patients, that Rahul is able to
transcend his fear and despair and learn to live with hope
and courage. People who know that they don’t have much
time on hand so they want to spread light and cheer all
around.
Rahul too, starts living out
his fantasy and plays heroic character like Indiana Jones,
and the one who tries to fulfill the last wish of the
inmates of a home for terminal patients.
The inmates at this rehab centre, being totally different
from each other, yet have one thing in common – end of
life staring at them. Each of them is so unique and so
loving…
Govinda (Ashwin Chitale) is a ten year old who loves
comics, mangoes and tells stories. He wishes that
everyone's life be just like a comic book.
Padma (Anaitha Nair) is impetuous, obnoxious and full of
life. She wishes to experience love.
John Abraham has given a very sincere and realistic
performance. He manages to get inside the character of a
besieged Rahul. Anaitha comes up with a fiery performance
as the turbulent Padma and Sonal is fine enough.
They are ably supported by some moving performances from
Farida Jalal and Girish Karnad. Shreyas Talpade is there
only for a song sequence. Child artiste Ashwin Chitale
plays a spirited character with full of life’s
understanding much too early for his age.
The title track of this film composed by Salim Sulaiman is
catchy. Other numbers too are melodious. This touching
film is narrated with sensitivity and understanding and it
does have the Kukunoor’s emotional touch in places. Not
the usual happy ending types.
- PAW
Credits & Crew:
Banner: SIC Productions
Presenter: Percept Picture Company, T-Series
Produced by: Percept Picture Company, T-Series
Co-Producer: Elahe Hiptoola
Story / Writer: Nagesh Kukunoor
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Music Director: Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant, Pritam
Chakraborty, Shiraz Uppal
Lyricist: Sameer, Kumaar, Shakeel Sohail, Mir Ali Husain
Cinematographer: Sudeep Chatterjee
Story Writer: Nagesh Kukunoor
Editor: Apurva Asrani
Art Director: Sunil Nigvekar
Production Designer: Devika Bahudhanam
Costume Designer: Aparna Shah
Action: Mahendra Varma
Sound: Vipin Bhati
Singers - Neeraj Shridhar, Shaan, Tulsi Kumar, Shiraz
Uppal, Zubeen Garg, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shreya Ghoshal,
Mohit Chauhan, Shankar Mahadevan |
