Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola

With Vishal Bhardwaj behind the camera one can expect something new in the offering. This time Bhardwaj goes the quirky humor path with a socially relevant subject. Even though Indian politics & old lunatic politicians could be the maximum source of entertainment, for some reasons they are not utilized to the fullest. Bhardwaj-Chaubey's script is one such rare political satire that deals with land scam – a perennial problem pan India.

The film begins with a weirdly catchy shot with a limousine being parked in a farmland in front of the local wine shop. The limousine accelerated to bump into the stall as we get introduced to Harry Mandola, the millionaire & his affinity towards "Gulabo beer". He personifies "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde" being the Good Samaritan when he is drunk but during his steady state he is an authoritative, manipulative businessman who is planning to take away the land of the farmers for personal gain. To add to it there is the corrupt minister with her sinister ambitions to climb the ladder of politics through tactful alliance with Mr Mandola. All plans goes awry as Mandola under his uncontrolled drunk state forced the farmers to start a revolution against him.

Vishal Bhardwaj takes a different route from his usual dark psychological themes and tries to explore the capitalist exploitation of the affluent & the wrong usage of power. Mao Tse Tung is symbolically webbed into the narrative hinting on communistic ideology as the shadowy "Mao" helps the farmers in their fight to get their land back. Bhardwaj-Chaubey's script is wacky,zany at times surreal that doesn't become overtly didactic. There are ample sequences (especially in 1st half) which have the mark of genius Bhardwaj. The scene where Mandola & Matru are trying to pull a Well away from their path in a drunken state reflects the existential struggle of the farmers of the society. They provide us with the ingredients to survive but we tend to ignore their significance, while the politicians are up to their own games. The serious subject has been absurdly camouflaged with utter sincerity. The dark humors are well placed. One of the finest sequences involves the gathering of the politicians as they take up their wine glass & lustfully shouts "Kursiyan" (chairs of political power) instead of "Cheers". From Zulu tribe to UFO, Bhardwaj incorporated everything that can add in to the madness- with master touch being the creation of Gulabi Bhains (Pink Buffalo) which plays a crucial role in the film. The dialogs are exemplary with unique twisted take on common proverbs. Sample this "tumhare ghar mein Mao Lenin nehi hai kya". Karthik Vijay's cinematography helps in portraying a real & surreal world which gets blended by perfect editing of veteran A Sreekhar Prasad. Vishal Bhardwaj music is always different and here also his music gels with the mood. Gulzar seems to have enjoyed a lot penning those quirky lyrics. Seldom has he got the scope to write such interesting lines like "oye Dolli Dolli Dolli, meri vitamin Ki goli". I am sure he must have been bored to death writing the typical romantic songs for JTHJ and with MKBKM he embraced air of freshness.

The pillar of the film, veteran Pankaj Kapoor as Harry Mandola, is rocking. He effortlessly slips into the role and took "Split personality" in Bollywood to another level. He again showed his versatility and proved why he is considered amongst the top actors of our country. Imran khan was easy on eyes and tried his best to do justice to the complicated role of Hukum Singh Matru. Hopefully his acting prowess will get noticed with this one. The role of bubbly Bijli is tailor-made for Anushka Sharma and she didn't miss doing justice to the confused daughter of rich father suffering from "Meena Kumari Complex"(as coined by Matru). Shabana Azmi made her presence felt with her lecherous act of climbing the ladder of success. Another fine acting talent of Indian cinema, she showed her spontaneity in the sequence with her son where she is explaining her motive behind the thirst for "power". Arya Babbar surprisingly leaves impression as Azmi's stupid yet calculative son "Badal" who is trigger to Azmi's success.Navneet Nissan makes her presence felt in the small insignificant cameo.By the way what was Ranbir Shourey doing in that once scene? Lastly, the smile of the "Gulabi bhains" is addictive..Did I mention that I am also hallucinating like Mr Mandola?

On the whole the Bhardwaj should be credited for depicting a clash between communist & bourgeoisie and also dealing with a grave issue like land-scam. Probably this time he wanted to reach a wider audience which can be felt in the 2nd half when things becomes over simplistic & bromide for the entertainment of regular cine-goers. The climax is disappointing by Bhardwaj standards when one looks back & checks his uncompromising brilliant masterpieces like Maqbool,Kaminey,Blue Umbrella,Omakar. Nevertheless even a strictly decent Bhardwaj film is better than most of the Hindi films being churned out recently. Like one can't expect Messi to score in every match it is difficult to expect brilliancy from each & every film by any director. Having said that I feel a Vishal Bhardwaj,Anurag Kashyap,Dibakar Banerjee film should never be missed as they bring something new to the platter.And repeating myself, even a not-so-great film by any of them is better than most of the other Hindi films.

Give MKBKM a chance. There are enough moments that have the stamp of VB. Icing on the cake is the presence of ever reliable Pankaj Kapoor.

Vishal Bharadwaj serves you "Mr. Pankaj Kapur on the rocks!"

'A twisted title, Limousine in gehu ke fields, African Zulu tribes, Pink buffalo called gulabbo, Politician sucking a lollipop in fields, Mao Tse-tung's (Maoism wala) desi avatar, UFO in a village?' Yes, this Vishal Bharadwaj film has more bizarre elements than you can ever think of !

MKBKM is one hell of a ride - from crazy, absurd, wacky, bizarre to... social, political, addressing some of the pertinent issues faced by our nation. Here you have one of the greatest actors of India in his elements, with his dual act of - caring, sensitive drunkard 'Hariya' and, a stern, selfish & staunch capitalist 'Harry'. Only actor of his caliber can carry-off such role with aplomb (he is teetotaler in real life). Please, hand over all the awards of 2013 to Mr Pankaj Kapur for his exceptional performance!

Director Vishal Bharadwaj has his own eccentric ways of making social commentary with issues such as SEZ (Special Economic Zones), land grabbing, capitalism, Maoism, corruption, honor killing, lokpal, media and what not! At one point, Bharadwaj doesn't even think twice before taking actual names of politicians -- from Sheila Dixit, to Rahul-s, Varun-s, Scindia-s of Congress as political heirs of successful politicians. It takes some time and effort from our side to get acquainted to this Haryanvi setup and accent...but if you start getting Bharadwaj's references and quirky dialogues, you are into this exhilarating mad-cap ride.

Imraan Khan as 'Matru' does well with whatever he can do with his limited acting capabilities. Anushka Sharma is effective, but she is getting typecast in these type of roles. Shabana Azmi is excellent in her sly and manipulating political avatar. Arya Babbar does well as Azmi's dimwit son.

There are many memorable scenes which only director like Vishal Bharadwaj can think of -- that hilarious fight between Matru and Mandola during "well" scene, Mandola riding a plane after getting drunk, Azmi's monologue about 'progressive' nation called India (over ages), the scene between Mandola and Azmi just before the rain arrives, Mandola telling 'Mao' - tu "left" wala bottle le, or the love story involving something as banal as "tooth-brush".

In some cases, Bharadwaj tends to go overboard especially towards the climax sequence and some of Imraan-Anushka's scenes are simply annoying. Sometimes, the film gets repetitive with street theater (natak) type execution.

Music: Vishal-Gulzar combo for music is delicious as always. It takes the film one notch higher. You get to hear samples of African and Haryanvi folk music in some of the songs. My picks from the album - Khamakhan, Badal uthiyan, Oye boy Charlie, title song.

Verdict: Overall, the film is as twisted as its title. So, watch it if you can digest this genre/Vishal Bharadwaj's films......otherwise you might walk out of cinema hall during the show, like some did where I watched the movie.

P.S. Pankaj Kapur is God of acting.

There are a thousand ways to approach a serious subject. Yet with MBM, Vishal Bharadwaj does an entirely different take,and an effective yet entertaining one at that. The screenplay has an aroma of theater throughout, and is backed by some stellar performances by Pankaj Kapoor, Shabana Azmi and the new pair of Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma. The humor in the film has a quirky charm about it. Pankaj Kapoor exhibits brilliance in the portrayal of a character who can be loved and hated at the same time. I would strongly recommend the movie to avid theater audiences and also to those who would like to be served the Bollywood 'masaala' in an entirely different avatar.

I am pretty sure you know what the story is, so I won't strain on that! Well, it is typical and a lot of movies have been made in the same line of land acquisition and dirty politics - in all languages perhaps!

MkBkM is a musical odyssey of great performances by the whole crew except the writer. Lead actors are solid - Kapur, Khan & Sharma are great and perfectly monetize their characters. Kapur's character is like a villain that you love. Shabana Azmi portrays her stellar performance and I appreciate that!

Editing, screenplay is good; direction is the usual Vishal Bhardwaj and music is punchy yet enjoyable. I won't spill the beans about the pink cow, because you need to watch it to enjoy and take pleasure.

What works and supposedly will in the box office is it's catchy screenplay full of the Bollywood masala which was lacking in most of the 100 crore worth films of 2012. It is definitely not boring a movie to pay 300 bucks for. I am pretty sure you won't be disappointed by the performances, but the clichéd story might dull you!

After Table No. 21, I would not totally recommend to watch this but you won't complain as it is a VB movie (7KhhonM, Omkara) and not Dabangg 3!

Bottom Line: Watch it because it has and will give you a kickstart in this 3 day holiday weekend! But MkBkM is not pure filmaking. As we all are irritatingly bored by 2012's greatly depressing masala-item dance movies, 2013 is time for some enjoyment!

WATCH OUT FOR: Pankaj Kapur!

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Language: Mild | Sex: No | Nudity: Very mild | Violence: Mild | Mouth- Kiss: Yes | Foreplay: Yes | Drugs: Implied | Alcohol: Strong | Smoking: Mild

Its a Shakespearean story set in rural India. If you know rural India have lived there, you would feel attached to the movie.This movie is not for urban people who don't know (and don't give a damn) about how things work in rural India.

PANKAJ KAPOOR should have won awards for this movie and for first time i actually liked IMRAN KHAN's work. SHABANA AZAMI too is incredible.

Script is USP of the movie and screenplay is brilliant...although ending was a bit longer than it should have been. Overall,the movie should have been supported more by viewers and critics.

I would give it 8/10.