Everybody Says I'm Fine! (2001)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Rahul Bose

Writer:

Rahul Bose (writer)

Release Date:

26 July 2002 (India)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Sikander Malik lives a middle-class lifestyle in Bombay, along with his parents, who run a musical band and a recording studio...

Plot Keywords:

Exclamation Point In Title | Punctuation In Title

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Rehaan Engineer	...	Xen
Koel Purie	...	Nikita
Rahul Bose	...	Rage
Pooja Bhatt	...	Tanya
Anahita Oberoi	...	Misha (as Anahita Uberoi)
Boman Irani	...	Mr. Mittal
Sharokh Bharucha	...	Bobby
Juneli Aguiar	...	Tina
Yogendra Tikku	...	Ramkishore
Delna Patel	...	Monica
Manohar Singh	...	Mr. Ruia
Anjula Bedi	...	Mrs. Ruia
Shyamoli Varma	...	Mrs. Mittal
Bandana Krishnan	...	Alia
Homi Adajania	...	Man in Music Video

Runtime:

USA:103 min

Country:

India

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company:

Pinnacle Entertainments

Quotes:

Xen: Well, actually my name is Sikander. But then my friends started to call me Alexander which is the English version of it. Then Alexander became Xander and now it is Xen.

Soundtrack:

Again

Could have made good points but gets muddled and seems to say things that are foolish

Hairdresser Xen had a traumatic childhood. He was in a recording booth when a short killed his parents at the mixing desk. He watched in silence as they died. Since then he has been able to read people's thoughts and hence see past their fronts. He generally is able to help those he sees but one girl, Nikita doesn't seem to be readable.

This film starts in a mix. The death scene and the way Xen reads minds are strange and feel ill at ease in the hairdressing saloon. However once you get the grip of the setup it becomes a lot better. The film seems to be saying – be real rather than front up, and for the most part it says it. However when Xen begins to `help' his customers he does it by encouraging their fronts rather than helping them to be real. With both of his first two customers he helps he builds on their fake lives and helps them to believe their lies. Is the film saying that it's better to have a front than deal with reality?

The title suggests that it is looking at the culture of people just saying `fine' when asked `how are you' rather than saying `actually I'm a mess'. But the film never says this and supports the fake opposite. The only interesting thing it does do well is to show that the quiet ones, the successful ones and the loud outgoing ones all have issues and problems – we all do. However this is lost in the final half an hour – when we have the fake lives supported and a strange plot about abuse that doesn't seem to have a point to make.

For the most part this is entertaining and interesting, it's only the last 30 minutes or so where it badly loses it's way. The gentle pace of the film makes it enjoyable even when the meaning is muddled. The cast are generally good – even if some have little to do or play Asian stereotypes. Rehuan Engineer (yes, really) is very good as Xen and likeable but Koel Purie is confused and misused as Nikita.

I must say it was passable, but I'd expected more – it set itself up nicely and avoided being daft but really it didn't make a good point and just ended up confusing itself and getting all twisted up.