Cast: Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Pankaj Kapur and Shabana Azmi
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Rating: 2/5
A boring comedy that turns you off completely
There is an array of expectations from the films coming from the hands of maestro Vishal Bhardwaj. And these are the very expectations which go against his latest flick titled 'Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola'.
The title itself aroused a lot of interest amongst the audiences and then came the edgy trailers which increased the interest by multiple folds. But alas, all these expectations fall flat on the face with the film's release. The movie was touted to be Vishal's 'Hatke' effort, as the filmmaker who has churned out drama films like 'Omkara' in the past was experimenting with a comedy satire with this one.
It revolves around the age old fight between the farmers and the capitalists where Pankaj Kapur aka film's 'Mandola' is a partial capitalist and socialist in his own right. His 'Man Friday' 'Matru' played by Imran Khan, though is officially a supporter of Mandola but somewhere down the line has his heart going out for the poor peasants as well.
Stuck between them is 'Bijlee' played by Anushka Sharma who is engaged to a local politician's (Shabana Azmi) son 'Badal' (Arya Babbar), amidst which she falls in love with her father's aide Matru.
Social issues like clashes between the classes in the society have been used innumerable times in satires. But Vishal using it in a not so exciting way is the biggest disappointment of the film. The plot is very vague and this confuses the audience instead of entertaining.
The attempt to keep the sarcasm and satire layered, goes overboard. And the sudden surge of the love story in the plot looks imposed. Inclusion of African Zulu tribes dancing in the background and false image of a pink buffalo too, fails to arouse any laughter from you.
The film which boasts of a talented star cast is unable to get the best out of the team as none of the characters are interesting enough to make their performances worth a watch. Pankaj Kapur as a drunkard doesn't fit the bill no matter how genuine his efforts were. Anushka Sharma who has been giving commendable performances in the past few films fails to live up to the expectations too. However, Imran comes as a surprise package and proves that he can get away with a role as rustic as this.
The music of the film is an interesting album pack which comprises of enjoyable numbers like that of the title track and 'Oye Boy Charlie'. Apart from these two, the other soft numbers might not survive the stiff competition on the charts.
Vishal Bharadwaj's direction is loose and the plot appears dicey though one can appreciate his effort to try his hands at comedy, a genre which he is not very well versed with.