well... what can one say about pankaj kapoor .. one of the finest actors is almost every kind of role and this movie is no different his expressions his voice modulations are all awesome... the girl Shreya Sharma also deserves mention ...she does a great joband the story is extremely subtle which can only be conceived either by R.k. narayan or in this case Mr. Ruskin Bond....Vishal does all justice to the story in this great movie... specially striking bout the movie is the way it changes tone halfway the movie..the change of mood is almost palpable....GreatJust the kind of movie that tells what should be the standard of direction ...

The Blue Umbrella is an instant classic. It is simple, heart warming and metaphorical at the same time. It is based on a novella by celebrated author Ruskin Bond. Bond's story captures the mood and the uncomplicated lifestyle of a small hill town spot-on and Vishal Bharadwaj renders it on the screen flawlessly.A little girl (Shreya Sharma) trades her lucky charm for an umbrella with a Japanese tourist. The beauty of the umbrella takes over the whole of the town. Everybody falls for it but none more than the stingy shopkeeper Khatri (Pankaj Kapoor). He wants to have it by hook or crook. What Khatri finds and looses in his quest for the umbrella is the rest of the story.This film is a reminder of the fact that Pankaj Kapoor never got the recognition he deserves. He is one of the finest actors this country has ever produced. He single-handedly turns 'The Blue Umbrella' from an ordinary film into extra ordinary achievement. The nuances he brings to his role - a twitch of his face, a gait to his walk, everything - works to etch the character in the minds of the viewer. A splendid performance is all I can say in short.The little Shreya is endearing. We are as heart broken as she is when she looses her umbrella; and we rejoice with her when she dances with it.The biggest credit of all, however, goes to Vishal Bharadwaj. It takes courage and commitment to make the kind of films he has made so far. A gem of a film !

Bharadwaj comes up with another interesting piece of cinema that's somewhat different from his other works. 'Omkara' was the last Bharadwaj film I'd seen and 'The Blue Umbrella' clearly excels that. Compared to 'Maqbool' and 'Omkara', 'The Blue Umrella' is a much more abstract and symbolic piece and yes, one of the main characters is played by an umbrella.Based on Ruskin Bond's novella, it is a very simple storytelling but uses a lot of symbolic elements and makes minimum but brilliant use of technical props. The cinematography welcomes us to the beautiful location and to the character's lives and minds. Each frame of the simplistic setting of North Himalaya is a treat to watch The use of colours is very effective and adds to the abstract nature e.g. what does the blue umbrella symbolize? What do the characters Kishore and Biniya represent? Well, that's for you to figure out. In my opinion the film symbolizes beauty, greed, love, pride, desire and forgiveness. The songs are charming with lovely lyrics that will very much appeal to children. The dialogues are witty and clever.About acting, the young Shreya is mature and very subtle as Biniya. I was amazed by Kapur's performance. I had last seen him in films like 'Maqbool', 'Dharm' etc, but here he was mind blowing. I can understand why he's referred to as one of the best actors as he seemed to quite naturally pull off Nand Kishore.This is one of the purest films to emerge from India in recent times. Though it's categorized as a children's film, it's not. It has a powerful message, is a visual treat and film-making at its simplest but most efficient.

Vishal Bharadwaj has evolved in such a wonderful Director with poetic sensibilities and characteristics of becoming world's great directors.Blue Umbrella is a screen version of Ruskin Bond's short story Blue Umbrella. It is about a young girl Binya (Shriya) who trades her superstitious lucky charm of bear nails in return of a Japanese Blue Umbrella with tourists. Instantly she becomes a center of attraction of the villagers. A small trader Nandakishore (Pankaj Kapoor) eyes of the Blue Umbrella and tries all ways of get the umbrella. When Binya's umbrella is stolen – the police raid Nandakishore's shop. Facing this humiliation and to show that he too can afford or buy an umbrella, Nandakishore orders a similar Japanese Red Umbrella. Once the Red Umbrella comes, he gains back popularity and respect from everyone in the village. During a wrestling bout where he is the chief guest, it rains and the Red Umbrella starts loosing out color and shows that it was the Blue Umbrella. The villagers decide to boycott Nandakishore and outcast him from the village. Nobody talks with him, nobody buys anything from his shop. He faces poverty and humiliation again. But this time it teaches him a lesson of life. Once when Binya forgets her umbrella at his shop, he understand the miseries that the Blue Umbrella caused him and honestly goes back to return the umbrella to Binya. But Binya shows grace and generosity by saying that the Blue Umbrella does not belong to her. The movie ends there… I applaud this movie onlybecause of the intention of good directors to make pure and beautiful cinema. Can you ever think and imagine Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese or Frank Miller making a children's movie? And that makes them less mortals. The versatility of great directors is the variety they handle. Tarantino, Scorsese and Millers are one dimensional in that sense and can not go beyond gory, blood and violence and that is were their creativity is so cornered and restrictive. That is why hats off to Vishal to have guts to venture into new medium and showcase that irrespective of whatever themes; he remains a good director.Vishal selects one of the most evolved and brilliant actors in recent times – Pankaj Kapoor who pours such a life in the character of Nandakishore that it is hard to believe this is a role depicted by an actor. He is too brilliant! Third time great – Maqbool, Dharm and Blue Umbrella. The girl Binya is good – but only to the director's lessons; and does not leave a lasting impression as the Makdee girl Swehta Prasad.The music is good, cinematography brilliant, locale of North Indian Himalayan ranges superb. All in all a great children's movie. It has the purity of cinema and showcases the goodness of human spirit. Teaches small but important lessons of life.(Stars 7.75 out of 10)