Umrika

Umrika (transl. America) is a 2015 Indian Hindi comedy-drama film written and directed by Prashant Nair, and produced by Swati Shetty and Manish Mundra. It features Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Rajesh Tailang, Pramod Pathak, Adil Hussain, Amit Sial, Sauraseni Maitra and Prateik Babbar.

Umrika
Directed byPrashant Nair
Produced by
Screenplay byPrashant Nair
Starring
Music byDustin O'Halloran
CinematographyPetra Korner
Edited by
  • Xavier Box
  • Patricia Rommel
Production
company
Release date
  • January 24, 2015 (2015-01-24) (Sundance)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Umrika premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award.[1] Director Nair said that the film is "about the mythology of America, and more generally, how cultures perceive each other".[2]

Plot

The film begins with Udai (Prateik Babbar) leaving his village for the United States. Following the death of his father, Udai's younger brother Ramakant (Suraj Sharma) realises that the letters his family has been receiving from Udai have been forged by his father and uncle, and learns that Udai vanished when he reached his port city, Mumbai. He embarks upon a journey to locate his brother.

Cast

Soundtrack
Umrika
Soundtrack album by
Dustin O'Halloran
Released24 August 2015 (2015-08-24)[3]
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length37:54
LabelSplinter Records

The soundtrack of Umrika consists of 17 tracks composed by Dustin O'Halloran.

Tracklisting
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue"03:21
2."The Priest"01:57
3."Letters"01:10
4."Umrika Village"02:24
5."Death of a Father"01:58
6."Secrets Revealed"02:22
7."A Chosen Path"02:09
8."A Passage to Mumbai"01:11
9."Into the City"01:29
10."Umrika"01:23
11."A Killing"02:59
12."You Are Lost Brother"02:30
13."Pictures of Family"02:18
14."Goodbye"02:13
15."Farewell My Brother"02:06
16."A Voyage Begins"05:11
17."Epilogue"01:05
Total length:37:54

Release

Shortly after its premiere, the film was sold by sales agent Beta Cinema to France, Germany, Austria, Australia, South Korea and numerous other territories, making it one of the most widely distributed Indian independent films of recent times that was incidentally, never released in India.[4] The film had its European premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2015 .[5]

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes Umrika has an approval score of 77% based on 13 reviews with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10.[6] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called Umrika a "warmly intelligent film"[7] and included it in his 25 Films of note at Sundance 2015.[8] Dennis Harvey of Variety praised the film, giving kudos to "Nair’s soundly constructed script and deft handling of a very good cast."[9] Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter stated Nair has managed to incorporate several big and abstract topics—including what ties us to our families and place of birth and the extent to which these things are important—into a story in which they become highly personal for the characters.[10] Nikola Grozdanovic of IndieWire gave the film a rating of C- saying that, '"Umrika" is ultimately a non sequitur story that, at worst, holds no weight, and, at best, makes little sense to someone born outside of Indian values and traditions.'[11] The New Zealand Herald gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and said that, "It's a sobering watch and an interesting, if not outstanding, film."[12] Paul Byrnes of The Sydney Morning Herald gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "Umrika achieves remarkable power as a story by concentrating its view of America through the eyes of people who have never been there."[13] Sharon Hurst of Cinephilia gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 and said that, "Umrika captures the anomaly and paradox that is life in India. But it is also a finely wrought narrative that ticked enough boxes for it to be a crowd-pleasing winner of the Audience Award at Sundance 2015."[14]

Awards
  • HP Briding The Borders Award. Palm Springs International Film Festival, 2016
  • FIPRESCI Critic's Prize. Cairo International Film Festival, 2015
  • (Nominated) Golden Pyramid Award. Cairo International Film Festival, 2015
  • Audience Award, World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Sundance Film Festival, 2015
  • (Nominated) Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Sundance Film Festival, 2015
  • Audience Award, Narrative Feature. CAAMFest, 2016

References
  1. Yuan, Jada (1 February 2015). "Me & Earl & the Dying Girl Dazzles at Sundance". Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  2. Sharf, Zack. "Meet the 2015 Sundance Filmmakers #73: Prashant Nair Spans Continents for Indian Drama 'Umrika'". Indiewire. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  3. "Umrika (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes.
  4. Levine, Sydney. "Cannes15: Beta Cinema's 'Ghosthunters' & 'Umrika' Among Hot Sellers at Marché du Film". Indiewire.com. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  5. KVIFF, KVIFF. "Umrika to be accompanied by director and actors". kviff.com. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  6. "Umrika - Tomatometer". Rotten Tomatoes.
  7. Turan, Kenneth. "Sundance preview: Diverse lineup unspools in Park City". Los Angeles Times.
  8. Turan, Kenneth. "Sundance Film Festival 2015: 25 films of note". Los Angeles Times.
  9. Harvey, Dennis. "Umrika Review: Prashant Nair's Satisfying Drama". Variety. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  10. Van Hoeij, Boyd. "'Umrika': Sundance Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  11. "Sundance Review: Bollywood Film, 'Umrika' Starring Suraj Sharma & Tony Revolori". IndieWire.
  12. "Movie review: Umrika". The New Zealand Herald.
  13. "Movie review: Umrika's subtle exploration of migration is exquisitely painful". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  14. "Umrika Movie Review - Sharon Hurst". Cinephilia.
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