Release date:
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January 11, 2013
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Director:
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Vishal Bhardwaj
|
Cast:
Language:
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Pankaj
Kapoor, Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Shabana Azmi, Arya Babbar
Hindi
|
In
a remote village in Haryana lie acres of fields that the local
lord-of-all-he-surveys eyes greedily for industrial use. The problem is, those
fields are fertile, which means the farmers don’t want to sign away their land.
That lord is Mandola (Pankaj Kapoor), who is by turns a boorish, manipulative, abusive
schemer or a gentle soul, kind employer and adoring father, all depending on
whether he’s sobre or drunk. The possibilities here are endless. Add to the
scenario Mandola’s feisty, phoren-returned
daughter Bijlee (Anushka Sharma); his New Delhi-returned right-hand man Matru (Imran
Khan) who is in love with Bijlee; the cold-hearted politician (Shabana Azmi) who
plays footsie with Mandola; her often witless, always wicked son Baadal (Arya
Babbar); and what you get is an array of eccentric characters played by an
array of interesting actors, and a fertile playing field for Vishal Bhardwaj.
Yet
it does not all come together into a cohesive whole. The problem primarily lies
with the people around Mandola. Azmi is chilling in moments of undisguised
malevolence, but strikes a discordant note with her farcical scenes. Khan is
more convincing here than he’s been in the past, but is given more screen time
than depth of character.
The
most implausible of the players in this story though is Bijlee. No doubt there
are women in rural India breaking norms, defying social convention and surviving
against all odds. Yet anyone who knows Haryana would wonder at this fictional
village where a female human – even if she’s the pardes-educated daughter of a millionaire – could casually wander
around in public at all times of day in perennially shoulder-revealing attire,
or emerge from a pond with her water-soaked blouse clinging to a tantalisingly
red bra, without at least raising eyebrows if not being lynched. If it was Bhardwaj’s aim to be cheeky and ironical
here, he does not pull it off. Sharma’s natural talent comes to the fore in the relationship
with her father and in an outlandish drunken scene, but it’s clearly tough for
her to rise above the uneven writing and direction at hand.
So there you have it … MKBKM’s effort to be joyously absurd is too obvious and the usually assured Bhardwaj seems to
be playing fast and loose with the reins in his hands. That other
Imran-starrer, 2011’s Delhi Belly,
achieved the entertaining weirdness and delightful idiosyncrasy that this film seems to be aiming at, but Delhi Belly worked because it was uniform
in its tone and not working so hard to impress. Sure it featured lots and lots
of abuses and farts, but there was more to the film than just gas and gaalis. Yeah yeah it’s amusing that MKBKM’s Mandola says Pancho pancho as often as you and I might
use the definite article, but there’s too much else that falls flat. From a usually
non-sexist film maker, it’s also disappointing to catch a joke about an
overweight woman and a bhains.
It’s
mixed feelings then towards Vishal Bhardwaj’s Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. On the one hand: Can this erratic film be
from the genius who gave us Maqbool
and Omkara?! On the other hand: thank
you Mr Bhardwaj for giving Pankaj Kapoor such a vast canvas and the space to simply
let go. To that I say, oye boy oye boy indeed!
PS: You know that Haryanvi ensemble Bijlee wears in the climax? I’m dying to add it to my wardrobe!
Rating
(out of five): **1/2
CBFC Rating (India):
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U/A
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Running time:
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150 minutes
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Photograph
courtesy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matru_Ki_Bijlee_Ka_Mandola
I go to movies with a view to spend time enjoyably. Hence, I choose comedies. This is a good comedy, with some social message. The acting and directing are good. Songs are fine. Paisa Vasool.
ReplyDeleteHaryana....!!!! What will Khapp panchayath say afetr seeing Anushka in that dress....?
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