Movie: Joram
U/A: Drama, thriller
Dir: Devashish Makhija
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Smita Tambe
Rating: 4/5

While watching Joram, I was reminded of Hansal Mehta’s Citylights. It released in 2014, and that was perhaps the last time someone showed us the fractured soul of Mumbai. Sprawling in its expanse, the city holds a galaxy within itself. But where do the broken stars go? What happens to those who have been pummelled for not being able to match its undying spirit?

Ten years on, Joram attempts a story about the brutality of the big city’s existence. It is a visual manifestation of what Suketu Mehta wrote in his book Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found—“A city like Bombay is full of restless people. Those who have come here have not been at ease somewhere else. And unlike others who may have been equally uncomfortable wherever they came from, these people got up and moved. As I have discovered, having once moved, it is difficult to stop moving.”