The first story is about Afia, played by Nandita Das. Afia feels cheated when she comes to know that her husband has been in love with another woman and wants to terminate their marriage. She starts hating men in general and wants to go ahead alone in life and become a single mother through artificial insemination. Her search for the perfect sperm donor (Purab Kohli) gives her journey of hope. Eventually she re-discovers herself and her faith too.
The second story is of a girl from a Kashmiri Pandit family. She wants to visit her ancestral place to sell off the ancestral property situate there. Megha (Juhi Chawla) left Kashmir long ago due to religious tensions in the Kashmir valley. All through her life she felt anger and discontent with her homeland. Although she got temporary shelter in Rubaina’s (Manisha Koirala) house in difficult times, she always blames Muslims for all the mess that her life has turned into. But on visiting her birth place, she realises that Rubaina’s pain is no different from her own. The human emotions, sufferings of both communities, political misleadiings, love, and friendship make Megha understand her bitter past clearly and it eventually helps her to handle her deep-seated wounds.
Onir has handled the challenging third story with a lot of courage. In India most of the directors would avoid this subject, but Onir has handled this subject quite well with his insight. Although the subject is bold, the story line is not that effective. Abhimanyu(Sanjay Suri) is molested regularly by his step-father in his childhood. In return for some favour Abhimanyu too uses his step-father sexually and later in life Abhimanyu feels that guilt. Will Abhimanyu ever able to lead his life freely? Will he ever overcome his guilt? Will it be possible for a victim of child abuse like Abhimanyu to forgive his victimizer?
The fourth and last story receives special treatment from Onir. Being gay himself, he addresses from his heart the pain, sufferings, and hypocrisy in Indian society. His narration of this story makes a perfect ending for ‘I AM’. The story tells us about a gay victim in vulnerable situations. A gay relationship between two men, Rahul Bose and Arjun Mathur and a blackmailer (Abhimanyu Singh) portrays a realistic picture of the hypocritical Indian society and the audience find themselves doing a reality check.
The actors have all acted so brilliantly that it is rather difficult to judge the best among them but Rahul Bose is most probably the best in the film. His role of a vulnerable victim is so realistic that audience feel goose bumps. Juhi chawla delivers vintage performance while Nandita Das is incredibly awesome. Manisha Koirala, doing a role after ages, handles her emotion-packed role with aplomb. Abhimanyu Singh’s portrayal of a corrupted cop who blackmails and tortures the victim is amazingly realistic. The combined effect of their sterling performances makes ‘I Am’ a splendid, memorable film.
‘I Am’ is one of the most sensitively portrayed movies of late. All four stories are unique, sensible, real and one can easily identify with the characters. The pain, wound, sufferings, love, hidden truths, relationships, tensions, helplessness have all been treated with remarkable maturity. Onir’s direction is fabulous and he lives upto his talent as a story teller.
It’s an intellectual, brilliant movie; but it is special in that it touches one’s heart as well. It’s well worth watching.
Director: Onir
Producer: Onir, Sanjay Suri
Cast: Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose, Sanjay Suri, Nandita Das, Purab Kohli, Manisha Koirala
