The ‘spirit’ is used by a seasoned cop in a deliciously sarcastic sentence in Mumbai Meri Jaan, the night of the blasts. Patil saab (Paresh Rawal), the cop, is due for retirement. His philosophy about life is to always be a bystander and watch the film—never try and be the actor in it. He gives this advice to his young protégé Kadam (Vijay Maurya)—a rebel who wants to change the world.

Kadam is self-righteous as he refuses to take a bribe on the day of the blasts. On another night, he taps on the car of a young couple doing drugs. He’s clean-hearted, even naïve, as he gets angry to the point of tears when his superior admonishes him for harassing the rich “wrong-doers”. The friendship between mentor and new blood is sure to bring a warm smile to your face.

Running parallel is the story of Nikhil (Madhavan), a yuppie activist—the kind who catches hold of roadside vendors for a lecture on plastic bags. He can afford a car-driver combo, but insists on taking public transport. On one such journey back home, the train is ripped apart by a blast. In a few seconds, the compartment is split open and we see Nikhil sitting listlessly on the tracks, unable to comprehend what happened.

The third story traces the life of TV reporter Roopali Joshi (Soha Ali Khan, getting better with every film), who works with a news channel that survives on exploiting people’s miseries. She’s successful and does stories where she asks just-widowed women ‘aap ko kaisa mehsoos ho raha hai’? Engaged to be married, she’s torn between covering the blasts back-to-back for her channel, and looking for her missing fiancé who was on one of the trains. How the hunter becomes the hunted forms the crux of this character’s absorbing story.

Thomas (Irrfan Khan), a night coffee-seller, is a small man whose simple pleasures include taking his family to the mall and secretly squirting expensive perfume on his wife and him. Meanwhile, four friends sit in a chai shop, high on their juvenile jokes—like one about the difference between Sharon Stone and a kidney stone. One of them is Suresh (Kay Kay Menon), a computer salesman and closet racist. His suspicion of Muslims is only augmented by the train blasts and the disappearance of a chai shop regular, a Muslim youth. So convinced is he of his communal beliefs, he even once makes a laughable comment on how “these people will only listen to Mohammed Rafi, never Kishore Kumar.” We see the terrorist attacks on Mumbai through the eyes of these six disparate individuals and their unfolding lives.

The actors impress you immensely. Soha’s evocative eyes speak a million words. Madhavan makes you feel for his character at every turn. Rawal gives one of his career’s finest performances. Kay Kay manages the impossible task of inducing humour. Ditto Irrfan, who builds up his character as one of the more interesting ones. Maurya brings out the frustration of his character’s wish to do good in the face of circumstances.

Mumbai Meri Jaan fleetingly reminds you of Oscar-winning Crash that essentially dealt with racism. The only aspect where the film disappoints is its slight slip into straitjacketing a community as all-white, where they are all chatty, happy, friendly folks. Truth be told, no one in Mumbai’s like that—at least not all the time.

The film is technically masterful. Cinematography by Sanjay Jadhav (brought over from Marathi cinema) is superb with excellent use of handheld camera. The background score is great fun. Dialogues are worth savouring.

Director Nishikant Kamat (Dombivili Fast) handles the blast scene expertly, bringing out multiple emotions. The visual effects that appear for a few moments are jarring in their lack of finesse, but the blood and trauma-soaked aftermath is sure to unsettle. At once you feel the anger and helplessness swell, pretty much like you may have on the day of the blasts. Then you admire the quick-mindedness of people who grasped the situation so quickly and swung to help the injured.

Kamat is a master at ambience-setting. Note the scene where a character’s American friend returns for a holiday and they talk about the September 11 and July 11 attacks. His sleeping baby on one shoulder, this man wonders if the present generation will grow up accustomed to this kind of violence. All the friends gathered there share an eerie silence, one that percolates over as you feel the goose-bumps.

Then there is my favourite: the one where Patil goes through a moment of embarrassed self-introspection following his junior’s careless remark. In another lighter scene, Patil celebrates his farewell with old colleagues on a rainy night. With the sweeper in the foreground, the lone table is full of anecdotes, drinks and laughter. The director clearly loves the rains and uses it beautifully to set many moods.

Mumbai Meri Jaan is replete with these treats and listing all of them, though this writer is tempted to, would be missing the point. This is one of the rare films where you count the actors as privileged to be working in it. Don’t miss giving yourself this experience.

Rating: 4 stars