The great city of Mumbai got its song in 1956. It was written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, composed by O.P. Nayyar and sung by Mohd. Rafi and Geeta Bali - 'Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahan..' from the film CID. It took more than half a century since then for Mumbai to get its film. 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' is that film.

Nishikant Kamat (director) and Yogesh Joshi (writer) have created a brilliant film. It starts slow and cautious but the graph keeps on rising steadily throughout the duration of the film. 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' chronicles the few days before and after the Mumbai serial blasts of 2006 in the lives of 5 characters played by Kay Kay Menon, Soha Ali Khan, Irfan Khan, Paresh Rawal and Madhavan. That list has some of the very good actors in Hindi film industry today. None of then disappoint. Every one of them has got into the skin of their character, and be assured they are no simple characters.

The story is beautifully written. It gives space to all the characters. Each one is well defined. It captures their fears, failures, prejudices and agony flawlessly. It takes us from one character to the other and all the stories blend seamlessly. The editing is clean, though it could have been a little more stringent to cut the running length of the film a little.

Why Mumbai Meri Jaan really clicks is because it is about real people in a real world. The vast expanses that it covers in its limited premise is amazing. There is a Paresh Rawal who is reflecting at his 36 years as a policeman. When we hear him out completely it is difficult to decide whether he is a loser or winner. The wrinkles on his face, his gray hairs, his spectacle-aided vision - is there a better metaphor than himself for the city he lives in? There is a Madhavan who can get what he wants. He has the money to buy a car, has the opportunities to migrate to Europe or America. But should he? We don't really know at the end. It is for some reason that a tear drop sliding over his cheeks is the closing shot of the film. Kay Kay Menon and Irfan Khan are great actors. They have added dimensions to their characters which I doubt even the writer knew existed. The Soha Ali Khan segment takes a dig at the news channels of today. It is raises a lot of obvious questions.

Nishikant Kamat is a director to look out for. He uses various devices like close-ups, short quick cuts, looking upwards shots, silence, stills, jarring music, almost everything. But all are in moderation. So the end result looks plain and clean - possibly the most difficult thing to do in Hindi film industry today.

It was only befitting that the film end with the C.I.D song. A must watch.

This is one of the best drama terrorism movie ever made.The whole story is concentrated on five people's life after the bomb attack in mumbai.Every character is so real.We can feel that the all characters are live and we know them.The screenplay of this movie is just awesome.Paresh raval has done his best work till date.Paresh Raval(Tukaram Patil) is retiring from the job of policeman and then the bomb blasts occur in the city.And how this bomb blast effect these five people's life is the story of this movie. At the end the speech of Paresh Raval(Tukaram Patil) covers the whole theme of the movie.Nishikant Kamat has done brilliant job as director. If you like the drama movie then you must see this masterpiece.

I only had inkling on what this would be about and that's all. But was totally amazed when I saw the contents of it – some reality which I haven't seen in a Bollywood film for a very long time.

The title is derived from the golden oldie, "CID" and sung by the late Mohd Rafi and Geeta Bali and composed by the O.P. Nayyar and it is a favourite song of mine and above all it describes the city of Mumbai. While this film, which depicts on how the people of the city were able cope with the bomb blasts that took place on July 11 2006. It deals with peoples' emotions and how they are able to handle it.

A Policeman, who is about to retire and how he is able to reflect on his time in the force, an aspiring journalist who covers tragic stories but unknown to her, her world crumbles when she faces such situation herself, an unemployed computer engineer who suspects people around him to be the terrorists but soon realises that not everyone is and finally a coffee vendor who is struggling to survive – they are the characters that all come together in this movie, a magnificent tribute to the city of Mumbai. But looking more further afield, this movie can also apply to other cities in this world that has changed so much since September 11 2001, cities such as New York, London and Madrid, who have faced the same dilemmas. This is what the director Nishkant Kamat has tried to portray.

Soha Ali Khan, has once again excelled like she did in "Khoya Khoya Chand" as the aspiring journalist, Kay Kay Menon, as the young unemployed computer engineer is very convincing in his role as a person who suspects people around him. Finally, Paresh Rawal, as the Policeman who is about to retire is just superb and is able to portray as to how his character feels about what he has achieved during his time in the force. But what is the icing is the song that comes in at the end when the credits begin to roll in.

This is a very appealing film that is worth watching and is capable of putting other movies, such as "Singh is Kinng" several steps behind.

An outstanding creative work by UTV Motion Pictures depicting the true Spirit of Mumbai with shades of every aspect. KK, Madhavan, Irfan, Soha and Paresh Rawal were extravagant. All of them try tackling their issue on their own. And by the end of it, all of them move on in life. And that has been portrayed as the 'spirit of Mumbai'. Hence the name – "Mumbai Meri Jaan". The movie presents the difference in various point of views from which people looked at the incidence of Mumbai Train Blasts in July 2006. At one level, it shows how there are people who overcame the fear of bomb blasts and moved on in life as if nothing has changed. While there is another sect of people whose lives have forever been unsettled because of this incident.

In all, the movie deserves an A+, and is a must watch.

I just watched this movie today. I have not gone in theater with some mind setup that I will see this and that, but in real meaning I was willing there a lot to see and director did the job fantastically. No errors there. He gone through the subject so intelligently that you cannot find a place where he slipped out of the main theme. Every moment and movement of the movie showing you the motive of the director of making this movie to hit on the right place of equality of different religions which is mainly Hindu Muslim.

The thing which I like the most is the bomb blast scene that made a huge impact on me as it is a short budget movie and they made i can say a shocking and horrifying scene there. This is i am talking in technical manner.

There were quite good emotional moments like hitting on media how badly they react to the situation and what happens when it came on to the people who are the part of the media (that made people clap in the theater). There were lot of places where people were clapping, that I can say was all for the director only as he is the one who handled the movie so brilliantly.

Overall, I must say this should be watched by every Hindu Muslim and others too, should be tax free soon that all get a bite of it. Anyways it is going to be in my DVD collection.

Excellent Work Nishikant

I saw this movie last night & I was amazed like eveRy other movie of Irfan and this early morning I heard his news of dismissal ! He was an exceptional actor & no one can ever ever match his level !

Last weekend we saw the movie 'Mumbai Meri Jaan'. I think it may get all the awards for this year!! Best director for sure, storyline, and there will be a fight for the Best supporting title within the movie... I still can't decide if Paresh Rawal did well or Madhavan or Kay Kay Menon... Probably Paresh. Irrfan Khan finally has taken a different role than his usually 'monotonous monologue role' which sounds like a Vodafone commercial. This time he has chosen a role which will really challenge him. Soha Ali Khan is great... needless to say it runs in the family.

This is not a commercial masala film. No dream sequences, no item numbers. Shot more like a documentary but extremely gripping. The director Nishikant Kamath makes is Hindi-movie directorial debt and surpasses all standards and sets a new one. We should keep in mind though that he has won many national awards for this previous Marathi movie, 'Dombivili Fast'.

I don't want to tell you what the movie is about, besides the fact that its based on seven bomb blast that happened in Mumbai trains a couple of years ago. Shows you the ground reality and and its effects it has on people and their relatives... not a movie for a weak heart some scenes are really horrifying and morbid. Definitely a 'no-no' for kids. I guess it for grown ups... not just physically grown-up but also mentally evolved ones ;-) .

Shatters all our prejudices and preconceived notions that we have about life in general when a catastrophe happens. How we take everything for granted unless it happens to you. This movie will make a difference.... this is the only movie I have seen in an Indian theater where the whole crowd clapped at the of the movie and was silent during the end credits.

If you have no plans this weekend... go watch it. Worth every penny!! Siskel and Ebert would have given it 2 thumbs up. I give all my 10 fingers ;-))

In terms of performance, its Paresh Rawal who delivers top-notch performance. The way he justifies his existence in service, his ready-made answers for everything and finally questions himself if he has done the right thing deserves standing ovation. He proves that doing comedy is simply making hay while the sun shines.

Irfan Khan is next in line in the effective portrayal as a poor family man struggling to make his ends meet as a tea-seller. He does his role with utmost conviction including accent.

Kay Kay, now this guy is an epitome in his own right. Amazingly powerful.

Madhavan's role was not the fly-in-the-ointment but the track per se' which was not fleshed out. Otherwise the role could have been developed match other tracks.

Soha Ali Khan is simply dumb. She should be outcast from such serious roles. Rang De Basanti was fluke, get it? However the track is an eye- opener for the murky truth lying behind the so-called "truth exposers".

The redemption part is sensitively handled. Couldn't have been better.

PS: Black Friday, Mumbai Meri Jaan & Wednesday - they should be aptly called trilogy.

A city has a comarardarie that is developed in tea shops,train stations,golf courses or country clubs.Mumbai has more of it than any other city since it was and is metropolitan and assimilating faster than any other city in India. That chain of faith and comarardarie stood broke on 7/11. The event is captured diligently by the director Kamat, who seems to be in the same league as Bhandarkar and other newer directors for their innovatives stories and story telling. The story is fabric woven with different charecteres who bring their own beliefs and hopes before and after the event that shook Mumbai on that fateful day. The movie is superbly casted with actors who make an incredible impact and by the end they cease to be actors. Each story has very positive ending like the Irfan's character that suffers from remorse and amends it with a rose (even though this appears inapproriate to give single rose to a man)and the TV reporter winning awards by becoming a victim herself. I have seen Soha Ali Khan in "Khoya Khoya Chand", which is another must see movie, and she has surely got the acting genes from her mother. All have acted well but the few who stand out are Kay Kay Menon, Madhavan. All said and done this is a beautiful movie on a horrible infamy. The movie tries to scale to the top of the mountain but stops short with the Vigilante never nabbing the suspects.

Mumbai Meri Jaan released last week and it had my dream cast in it,so I couldn't dare to miss this one..Kay Kay,Irfan,Paresh..wow...What else do I want??? The film tells the story of 6 lives ,very different from each other,in terms of background, yet close to each other,in terms of frustration & solidarity.

The film is about the Mumbai train blasts but its not,"only" about the blasts.It peeps into the lives of rich and poor, dangerous and foolish, corruption and morality and ends up showcasing ,that in the end we all have a heart which despite facing several pains,still manages to beat in a way,which is as beautiful as Mozart's Symphony No. 40.

The performances are top notch but Kay Kay is the one who is ahead of the rest. Paresh Rawal has the most author backed role and he does ,what is expected of him,i.e. deliver a knock out performance. Irfan has done fantastically well,but I wish,he had got some more scenes.Soha and Madhavan are adequate,but its Kay Kay, Paresh and Irfan,who make this movie reach the highest level.

A wonderful and a brilliant film with the song placement in the last scene ,being a masterstroke.

my rating- 8 out of 10

The movie moves ahead as promised & as the critics have said about it.. I'm hardly going to describe the movie so please switch to another site if you are interested in the story..

The theme of the movie is not about the blasts (thankfully).. and it is not even about people (Aaamir was good but slow & painful)... its a movie about mindsets & more importantly a commentary on the current state of affairs...

i love the way the narrative can compare with ease India & the USA...despite obvious differences of lifestyle. As is rightly said, fear is completely unbiased of race, creed, color or wealth.

The movie talks about how fear and social psychosis affects a layman, and how a common person becomes the fearful one, the tormentor, the victim and the attacker at the same time. I don't know if the director had visualized all this, but i think i found much to learn from the movie.

Most of all what i like is its portrayal of different communities, and Paresh Rawal's utmost sensitively given sermon on the state of affairs and clashes between community, the ways of seeing the world and the urge to make a difference. The movie ends with a beautiful touch of hope, which i don't think could have been portrayed in a more artistic manner. I still haven't got the chance to see who the director was, but its a very good job!!!

So do make a point to watch it while its playing in the theaters. I promise you better & more sensible entertainment than mindless mas-ala....

It's a beautiful movie promoting secularism and love for every religion. In spite of the fact that the movie is filled with overacting, it urges us to stop seeing the world through our biased lens. This is something that the people of India lack today, owing to the fuelling of inter caste hatred by the political parties through the mainstream media. It's sad to see Paresh Rawal being an islamophobe today, despite the moral teachings he gave in the movie about peace and harmony.

Found this to be too chaotic to follow. The scenes kept jumping all over the place until the story line inevitably broke! One gets the concept of an event that impacted lives that seemingly become intertwined after a horrific event, but the way the story is told, and unfolds does little to engage a non-Indian viewer.

a truly outstanding movie...it touches your heart...and forces u to think about it...a must watch....it should be made compulsory for media whose standards have fallen....a movie which can make u cry....which salutes the spirit of mumbai...the spirit of India...the spirit of humanity....and it does so through the lives of ordinary persons to whom we can relate...a movie with excellent acting from one and all....the best part of the movie is never over the board...there is a bit of all the protagonists in all of us...the movie is so realistic and soul stirring and when u leave theater your eyes are moist not from sadness but from a sense of pride in the spirit shown by mumbaikars

A brilliant movie that showcases few days before and after the Mumbai serial blasts of 2006 in the lives of five different, unrelated characters: Software Engineer Madhavan, constable Paresh Rawal, roadside coffee vendor Irfan Khan, TV reporter Soha Ali Khan, and a Hindu fanatic Kay Kay Menon, and everyone has lived to expectations. Each parallel plot is a story in itself that becomes interesting as the movie progresses. The movie touches many issues: Soha being interviewed by colleagues about her fiancé's death, the loser constable reflecting on his idle police service at retirement, software engineer considering fleeing the country, Hindu extremist bridging the Hindu-Muslim divide. Light traces of humor can be found in Kay Kay's anger, Paresh Rawal's sadness, and Irfan's helplessness. The blast scene is a bit gory and painful to watch, but could be very close to reality. Amazing talent shown by director Nishikant Kamath in his first Hindi movie after just one Tamil and one Marathi movie. Though a bit heavy, a must watch. The end leaves you lighter with the evergreen song from CID that gave the movie its name.

How many time do you get to see movies which actually touch your heart not just once but through each and every character of the movie ? Well.. Mumbai Meri Jaan is one of those movies. The beauty of the movie is the realistic characters, realistic dialogs, good story, powerful acting, amazing direction, emotional climax and the message it conveys. This story starts from the day 7/11 when Mumbai serial blasts happened and ends after a week from that. The movie tells about the impact of the 7/11 bomb blasts on people's life, how it affected every character's life and finally how they manage to keep the 'Mumbai Spirit' alive. Excellent performances from Irfan Khan, KK, Soha Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal and Madhavan. A movie that truly deserves to be Tax-free and best movie of the year award. My personal second choice will be 'Aamir'. I salute the 'Mumbai Spirit'.

I had an idea before watching MUMBAI MERI JAAN that it would be a thriller about the hunt for the terrorists responsible for a real-life series of train bombings that took place in Mumbai in 2006. In fact, it turns out to be a social drama exploring such topics as religion, politics, justice, and honour, utilising the bombings as a backdrop to have half a dozen or so characters contemplating their lives and their place in the world. The film is certainly well acted and realistic, aside from the unfortunate train explosion utilised by some ultra-cheesy CGI effects. However, it's also rather overlong and heavy-handed in the messages it delivers. Not what I was expecting.

A must watch for every mumbai-ite There have been many films portraying the undying nature of the people of mumbai. There was 'Life in a Metro' where the life-styles of people were shown. There was 'Taxi 9211' where it showed how a common man lived in mumbai. But this movie tops all.

Stellar performances by Kay Kay Menon, Paresh Rawal and Irrfan as usual. Paresh as the aging cop shows the typical 'live-and-let-live' mentality of a mumbai-ite. But later realises how he could have bettered his life. Kay Kay Menon with the average ignorant Hindu who despises Muslims and how his impressions change due to events occurring in his life.

All these events triggered by the mumbai serial train blasts. R.Madhavan depicts the regular mumbai train-traveler whose mind will always remember the incident but he would have to move on. That is what the fighting spirit of MUMBAI is all about. The never-say-die attitude! You have to salute the attitude.

A movie made very well and a full value for money.

This is the type of movie that one may spend 500 bucks on to view from the luxurious section with the recliner seats n all n still it will be worth every penny.

First thing that will catch ur eye will be the star cast which has all the finest selection of actors of Hindi cinema.

The story, the buildup and the turn of events leading to the end are great.

The movie will keep you thinking as u walk out of the movie hall also. A definite good watch n shdnt b missed....enjoy!!!

I think this is one of the best movie, no wonder which made me to comment on it as i had never made comment on any movie so you can think how beautiful the movie would be. well i can say that the movie is also made something similar to movie "crash" where different character's life had been shown and how they cope from it. Nevertheless its a treat to watch movie and by the end you will also feel something u had learn t from this!!

Now i can say that Indian movies are going a truly Hollywood style,even the train blast scene was looking quite realistic thanks to the graphics teams to provide such great graphics!!