Aashayein

About the film

Aashayein (Hindi pronunciation: [ɑː.ʃɑːẽː]; transl. Hopes) is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, and produced by Percept Picture Company and T-Series. It stars John Abraham and Sonal Sehgal. The film revolves around Rahul, a gambler whose life changes one day when he is diagnosed with cancer but is given the hope of living his life to the fullest by several patients he meets at a rehabilitation center. The film was released theatrically on 27 August 2010.

Plot

Rahul Sharma (John Abraham) is a compulsive gambler and, while betting, wins 30 million rupees. That night he asks his girlfriend, Nafisa (Sonal Sehgal), to marry him, and she agrees. Right after this, Rahul collapses.

The next day he goes to the doctor for a medical test and finds out that he has cancer. Rahul does not know how to handle this situation; in the middle of the night, he runs down a street screaming, knowing that he only has months to live. That night, he finds a piece of newspaper in which he sees an advertisement for a rehabilitation centre for persons with such incurable diseases to spend the last days of their lives in it. Rahul runs away from his fiancée, leaving most of the money he earned for her.

Once Rahul gets into the centre, he meets several people like Parthasarthi (Girish Karnad), who speaks with the help of an electrolarynx because of his cancer; Madhu (Farida Jalal), who was a prostitute and an AIDS patient now; Padma (Anaitha Nair), a teenage girl with a lot of dreams but no life to fulfill them – she can't even walk properly; and Govinda (Ashwin Chitale), a comic-loving kid, who is said to have certain higher capabilities, and everybody treats him as a messenger of God. The relationship between Rahul and each of these people grows with time.

Production

Aashayein was shot on locations in Puducherry and Hyderabad, India. John Abraham had to lose 16 kilos for the film. The title is inspired by the song "Aashayein" from Nagesh Kukunoor directed film Iqbal.

Track list

This music is composed by Pritam, Salim–Sulaiman (Ab mujhko jeena) and Shiraz Uppal (Rabba). Three Songs lyrics are penned by Mir Ali Husain, but Other ones Irshad Kamil (Dilkash Dildar Duniya), Ashish Pandit. The music was released on 25 July.

Critical reception

IANS rated the film 3.5 out of 5 saying, "This is unarguably Kukunoor’s most sensitive and moving work since "Iqbal". It touches the heart". Rajeev Masand of IBN gave 1.5/5 and commented, "Aashayein is a difficult film to sit through (...) it is in fact a serious test of your patience." Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL rated the film 2 out of 5 and said, "...nothing comes through except disappointment.".

Key details