Apna Asmaan Review

They say if one has to achieve a height, aim for the skies. Howsoever difficult it may seem, howsoever far it may be and howsoever impossible it may sound, always have a piece of sky for yourself. Something which you could call - APNA ASMAAN.

Budhhi [Dhruv P. Panjuani] was also staring at this sky. Actually not him, but his parents were. And which parents wouldn't? After all like every other normal couple, even Ravi [Irrfan Khan] and Padmini [Shobana] too wanted only the best for their teenage son. The only difference being that their son wasn't normal.

He was special.

He had neuro problems and was mildly autistic. Not able to study and learn things the way children of his age could do, he picked up things at his own pace. So much so that it lead his mother to frustration even his father always believed that one day things would turn out to be all fine and he would be able to live a normal life.

But deep inside, he also carried the guilt of being responsible for his son's mental state [in spite of not being responsible for it, as confirmed by all the doctors]. It so happened that when Buddhi was a little child, he was accidentally dropped by Ravi. And now Ravi carried this burden with him forever.

Kamini was not the one to take things lying down and only wait for a miracle to treat her son to normalcy. A gold medalist in Mathematics, she wanted her son also to be excellent in studies and couldn't tolerate it when he scored less marks in his school subjects. His flair for art didn't quite impress her while the constant taunts from her mother-in-law only aggravated her situation.

In such circumstances, her only hope was Dr. Sen [Rajat Kapoor], a neurologist who constantly tried to make her understand over the years that it wasn't as easy for Buddhi to be like any other normal child the way she wanted. Having a soft corner for both Padmini and her son, he wanted them to understand that Buddhi was indeed a special child and just differently-abled.

On the other hand Dr. Sathya [Anupam Kher] had a different way of looking at things. A qualified Ayurvedic physician, he had invented a drug which could convert a dumb individual into smart, even though it had it's side effect of memory loss. Aiming for a Nobel Prize, he could well have Buddhi as a patient on whom he could test his drug.

Ravi meets Dr. Sathya and in one of those desperate and week moments, agrees for the drug to be administered to his son. Buddhi turns into a genius but forgets about his past. Also, he comes across as a confused and a puzzled guy which only makes things complimented.

Final nail is hit in the coffin when Dr. Sathya's past is revealed and the ill effects of the drug start becoming clearer.

Did Ravi and Padmini end up paying a high price for the well being of their son? Was the piece of sky that their son got good enough for him to make a place for himself there?

A film about modern day obsession about achieving success at any cost, Kaushik Roy directed APNA ASMAAN has been traveling the globe in festival circuits.