Udaan

Director: Vikramaditya Motwane

Institute History

  • 2011 Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue

Description

Rohan, an expelled youth has to come to terms with a new life with his estranged and authoritarian father in an Indian industrial town. A Cannes selection in Un Certain Regard, this debut feature by Vikramaditya Motwane offers a new, cool image of middle-class India. Rohan and his 17-year-old fun-loving buddies get into trouble at public school for the last time, and are all expelled. Unlike his richer mates, Rohan must return to a small industrial town and his estranged father, who has not seen him for eight years. He discovers he now has a six-year-old half-brother, Arjun, from another of his father's failed marriages. Rohan quickly comes into conflict with his authoritarian father, who, disgusted by his son's school failure and interest in being a writer, forces Rohan to join the family steel business, and study engineering. Rohan increasingly feels his dreams crushed and rebels by stealing his father's car each night, finding a new gang of drinking friends, and dodging class to write his poems. When he fails his exams, Rohan is soon in open conflict with his father. Motwane's elegantly paced tale offers a vivid image of male violence within the family, subtly tempered with the more individualistic assertiveness of today's Indian youth, all backed up by a punching rock music score.—London Film Festival

Screening Details

Credits

As you use our Online Archives, please understand that the information presented from Festivals, Labs, and other activities is taken directly from official publications from each year. While this information is limited and doesn't necessarily represent the full list of participants (e.g. actors and crew), it is the list given to us by the main film/play/project contact at the time, based on the space restrictions of our publications. Each entry in the Online Archives is meant as a historical record of a particular film, play, or project at the time of its involvement with Sundance Institute. For this reason, we can only amend an entry if a name is misspelled, or if the entry does not correctly reflect the original publication. If you have questions or comments, please email [email protected]