"Listen Amaya" - A finest Attempt That Shouldn't Be Missed

It is sad that meaningful cinema is only appreciated when there are known faces or better say star power is associated with it. Have you wondered how many great pieces of arts have you missed just because of the fact that those movies either didn’t had super stars or were not backed by heavy advertisements and marketing. “Listen Amaya” is one amongst those movies. This movie by Avinash Kumar Singh was screened at London Asian Film Festival and what else could it receive other than hoards of appreciation. I recently watched the movie over DVD and for 2 hours I only enjoyed each and every scene of the movie.

“Listen Amaya” revolves around two widowed individuals Jayanat (Farooque Sheikh) and Leela (Dipti Naval) along with her daughter Amaya (Swara Bhaskar).Leela runs a library cum coffee shop, named “Book A Coffee” with her daughter and Jayant is her routine customer, friend, admirer and what not. The story revolves around these three individuals and the complications, self-respect and egos associated with their relationships. The plot is based on very thin line where words don’t need to express anything but emotions do. It is remarkably dealt as well, on screen.

I have grown up watching Dipti Naval’s and Farooque Sheikh’s off beat movies, also known as parallel cinema of early 1980’s. Movies like Chashm-e-Buddoor, Saath Saath, Kissi Se Na Kehna, Katha and Faasle etc. were a complete revelation from mainstream cinema. Coming back to “Listen Amaya”, it simply touches the hearts of audience. There are many sequences where Farooque Sheikh and Dipti Naval express their emotions with extreme ease. Swara Bhasker (Amaya) expresses her uneasiness with flaw. The contradictory personalities can only be show-cased by a seasoned actress. She is another actress to look out for after Tabu, Nandita Das and Vidya Balan.

Music of the movie is very light. The beauty is that all the songs are situational (though movie’s length could have been decreased if the songs would be omitted). Direction is first rate and so is cinematography.

If you are looking forward to watch a simple, easy going, full of mature emotions movies then this one is the perfect one. “Listen Amaya” is all about emotions and performances. It is highly recommended for those who value quality cinema or let me say a meaningful cinema.

I would personally rate it 4/5 on the basis of story line, script, performances and close to reality.