Yeh Mera India

Yeh Mera India (also named Y.M.I. Yeh Mera India) is a 2008 Hindi movie, written and directed by N. Chandra. The film stars Anupam Kher, Perizaad Zorabian, Sayaji Shinde Purab Kohli, Rajpal Yadav, Sarika, and Seema Biswas.

Yeh Mera India
YMI Theatrical Poster
Directed by	N. Chandra
Produced by	N. Chandra Dhaval Gada
Starring	Anupam Kher Perizaad Zorabian Purab Kohli Rajpal Yadav Sarika Seema Biswas
Music by	Suhas Siddharth Kavita Seth
Distributed by	N Chandra Global Infotainment Ltd Pen India Pvt. Ltd.
Release dates	13 August 2008 (2008-08-13) (Filmi South Asian Film Festival) 28 August 2009 (2009-08-28) (Indian)
Running time	134 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Plot

Yeh Mera India focuses on the comprehensive lifestyle of Mumbai, with a special focus on the biases that permeate the corner of its society. Whether it is communal, social, economic, religious, or educational biases, the "bias" factor dominates the entire depiction of the film, merging different characters into one story.

The different biases that are incorporated into the film are as follows:

1. Religious bias: A devout Muslim listens to the radical sermons of a religious leader that aim to instigate his followers to take revenge for the wrongdoings occurring within the Islamic community. This leads his followers to collaborate to create havoc in the city, but plans fail. However, when the plan is about to succeed, the follower decides to abort it, seeing a Hindu boy walk towards it. This child had previously helped a lost Muslim girl find her mother.
2. Communal bias: Rajpal Yadav is a Bihari who has just arrived in Mumbai looking for work. In his quest for some money and food, Yadav encounters incredible bias against his community, with Marathis blaming his creed for taking away jobs and others ridiculing his sub-par technical skills. On the other side, Shrivallabh Vyas, a Brahmin politician, opposes his son's courtship of SmilieSuri, a Dalit girl; however, he decides to exploit the relationship for political gain.
3. Social bias: Sarika is the administrator of a large hospital, running it with zeal and fervor. Seema Biswas is a poor woman who is trying to gather funds for her husband's bail money, as he has been framed in a fraudulent case. Biswas works at Sarika's house, cooking meals and cleaning the house. Despite Seema's honest work, Sarika continues to doubt her when things go missing, checking her purse and doubting her character. In the end, it is Biswas who comes to the aid of Sarika at a crucial moment.
4. Gender bias: Sarika's husband is a successful builder and owner of several call centres across Mumbai. Intoxicated with money and power, he finds himself unable to resist deflowering women, using every moment to lure women by showering expensive gifts on them. However, a moment arrives where he finds himself at a crossroads, unable to face reality but understanding its repercussions.
5. Economic bias: Perizaad Zorabian is the successful creative head of a channel. However, work and life have tensed her. She is unable to bear the hectic pressure of Mumbai and asks her husband to find work in either the United States or the United Kingdom. Perizaad looks for opportunities to insult people and finds her financial power too strong to succumb to emotion.

Biases of this sort weave the entire story into finding resolutions based on the biases of individuals and the reality of the lifestyle of Mumbai. The message clearly floated through the movie is that We have to learn to live together like Brothers or perish like Fools, as said by M. Luther King. This movie plot has certain similarities with the plot of Crash (2004), an American movie starring Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Thandie Newton, and Brendan Fraser.^[1]

Cast

Actor or actress	Role
Anupam Kher	Judge Ayyar
Atul Kulkarni	Raja Shetty
Aakash Pandey	TV Director
Milind Gunaji	Ashfaq
Perizaad Zorabian	Jennifer Ali
Purab Kohli	Nachiket Joshi
Shrivallabh Vyas	Vivek Joshi
Smilie Suri	Asha Ambedkar
Parvin Dabas	Sameer Ali
Rajit Kapur	Arun Talreja
Rajpal Yadav	Bhola Paswan
Sarika	Sushma Talreja
Sayaji Shinde	Inspector Chandrakant Shinde
Seema Biswas	Sharada Bai
Vijay Raaz	Noor Ahmed Khan
Ashwin Mushran	Amarjit Singh
Virendra Saxena	Dr. Mandadhi
Siddhant Karnick	Jatin Gunguly

Reception

Yeh Mera India received mixed reviews from critics. Rajeev Masand said in his review that "the acting's embarrassingly weak and the scenarios all exaggerated",^[2] but Taran Adarsh wrote, "Here's a film that pricks your conscience and makes you think".^[3]

Soundtrack

1. "Aap Roothe Rahe" (Kavita Seth)
2. "Bansuri" (Zubeen Garg)
3. "Dil Mandir" (Kavita Seth)
4. "More Naina" (Kavita Seth)

References

1. Jhunjhunwal, Udita (28 August 2009). "Yeh Mera India". DNA. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
2. Masand, Rajeev (29 August 2009). "Masand's Verdict: Yeh Mera India over the top". CNN-IBN. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
3. Adarsh, Taran (29 August 2009). "Y.M.I. - Yeh Mera India". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 15 July 2011.^{[dead link]}

External links

• Yeh Mera India at IMDb