The Blue Umbrella

Yesterday I saw the Vishal Bhardwaj directed movie The Blue Umbrella. The film is based on a Ruskin Bond novella (short novel) with the same title.

The story is set in a small village somewhere in the mountains. One day a little girl Biniya is given a beautiful Japanese blue umbrella by a tourist visiting the village in exchange for her necklace. Biniya proudly carries it around everywhere in the village and becomes the center of attraction. She also becomes a target of jealousy as some now want to possess that very umbrella.

Nandkishore Khatri (Pankaj Kapur) owns a tea stall and is always on the look out for collecting unusual things that are not easily available in their small locality. He now has his eyes set on acquiring the blue umbrella. He tries to bribe Biniya into giving her chatri to him but she refuses.

And then Biniya loses her blue umbrella. She suspects Khatri to have been the culprit but is unable to prove it. Some days later Khatri receives a parcel which is a Japanese red umbrella. All the love and attention that was earlier on Biniya is now given to Khatri. He even is invited to be a special guest at a local wrestling competition. As he is making a speech after the match it starts raining heavily. Soon the red colour of the umbrella gets washed away revealing the original blue colour underneath.

The panchayat having discovered Khatri as a thief and a liar decide to punish him by throwing him out of the village. Having been abandoned Khatri's tea stall is now a rundown place surronded only by snow and is a picture of the lonely life he is living. He still goes to the village as that is the only place he knows and can call his own. But he gets sneered there by the villagers and even the children refuse to take any free toffees from him.

Biniya is saddened to see all this and returns the blue umbrella to Khatri saying "yeh meri nahi hai (this is not mine)". With that everything gets set right. The winters obliviates and the sun returns. The tea stall is running to its old glory and Khatri regains his lost position.

The Blue Umbrella is a very simple film but what makes it special is Pankaj Kapur's acting, amazing photography by Sachin K. Krishn and the underlying theme of the story.

We all get easily attracted to all that is beautiful, be it a painting, a dress, a piece of jewellery, antique furniture or even a person. And if we owned one of these then some people would be in awe of us, some would come to praise us while still others would turn green with envy. Don't we all want to get everyone's attention.! We all want to be loved and respected!

How sad it must be then to be abandoned by your near and dear ones. Think of the elderly who are left at old age homes instead of being taken care of in their own homes. Think of the babies who are left some place by their parents who no longer want to take responsibility.