Review: This 'Aasman' takes too long to open up

Film: Yeh Khula Aasmaan
Director: Gitanjali Sinha
Cast: Raghubir Yadav, Raj Tandon, Aanya Anand, Yashpal Sharma, Manjusha Godse, Aditya Siddhu
Rating: *

A boy fails his IIT entrance. Calls his mom in London who doesn’t answer, calls his dad who doesn’t take his calls and in need of emotional support, the boy goes to his grandfather’s home in rural India. Avinash Rai lives in Mumbai, while his parents live in UK and yet, he hasn’t visited his estranged grandfather in their grand ancestral home. The boy’s relationship with his parents is rocky as they fail to give him time and he ends up finding the love he has been longing for in his Daddu’s (Raghubir Yadav) company. Here he meets Muskaan (Aanya Anand) and cupid strikes.

Avinash decides to participate in the annual kite-flying competition and Daddu thinks of this as a great way to boost the lad’s confidence. Through this competition Avinash experiences a rivalry that has gone on for generations, relationships and a rediscovery of his relationship with his father.

But it all takes an awful lot of time. The plot goes round in circles and you find yourself hunting for popcorn. The dialogue makes you cringe. I mean, which teenager says “I need to take your leave” or “thanks for the information” ?

While Raghubir Yadav is an adorable grandpa, there is nothing memorable about the rest of the cast. Yashpal Sharma’s awkwardness as a businessman in the UK disappears as he comes back to village. The talented actor is miscast and how!

The execution is amateurish and shoddy. The plot takes the entire first-half to establish itself and the film completely drags on through the second half. The film is packed with so many quotes that are meant to inspire you to crush competition that the theater feels like a school principal’s office.

The film tightens up in the last 10 minutes as the finals of kite competition start off. Is the rest of the film worth these ten minutes of mildly exciting sequence? I don’t think so.