Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola

Madness with a mission and purpose, that's 'Matru Ki Bijli ka Mandola' in nutshell! Right from the word go, the movie seems to be sheer moron-ism! You will end up saying 'Kuchh bhi' so many times esp. before intermission. But dare not leave the cinema-hall at intermission going by the slack slow lack-luster and not so impressive first-half. Post intermission, however, the movie picks up pace, zeal, direction and life! Not delving much into the story line, I will straightaway go to my observations and comments:

• MKBKM couldn't have been so without the veteran 'manjha hua' perfectionist Pankaj Mandola Kapoor! He literally brought the weird Harphool Singh urf Harry Mandola alive on-screen. Seems Vishal Bhardwaj wrote the character keeping him only in mind. He does full justice to both his avatars, first, of a polished, sophisticated yet politically exploited millionaire and that of the rebel, cuss-worded, almost mad and guilt-filled man.

• Shabana Azmi is the other pillar of the film performance-wise. Both these actors of the erstwhile parallel cinema weave magic on-screen. She is quite convincing as the shrewd, opportunist, ruthless chief-minister of state. After Makdi, Vishal has given her yet another meaty role with negative shade and she as usual scores full marks.

• Imran 'Matru/ Mao' Khan gets into skin of the role as the film progresses and carries the rugged look well. However, he still lacks the killer-instinct of his competitor Kapoor (Ranbir) to carry such roles with 100% conviction. 'Bijli' Anushka is as usual her bubbly and loud best. High time gal! Move on and experiment. We are bored of seeing you in similar avatars in all your movies till date. Special mention of Arya Babbar who has been handed over the responsibility of creating silly comedy in the flick. He does it well, though he many a times he tries hard to copy the mannerisms of his pa, Raj Babbar. However, going by the character he plays, he looks merely a caricature of his actor father. Rest of the star-cast is fine.

• Now coming to the treatment meted out to the movie. The subject of effects and intricacies of land seizing from farmers by big corporates for industrialization and dirty politics involved in the same is innovative and very relevant. The dark rural 'Bharat' behind the shining urbane 'India' has been shown well. However, the mode used by Vishal this time is that of 'nukkad-nataks' which do not impress everyone especially in the beginning. The director has also used a lot of symbolism viz. Pink-cow somehow reflects the conscience of Mandola. The movie tickles your funny bone at many places and mention of many real- life political and business names brings in more relevance to the subject. Despite lot of pink-ism ('Gulabbo' and 'Gulabi bhains'), the movie isn't on a feminist mission!

• This doesn't mean that there is no flaw in the film. There are lot many of them viz. * Excess songs (at unwanted places) * Slack editing with many unrequired portions like that of aircraft crash (The media scene after that reminds you of a certain 'Joker') * Slow pace pre-interval - Good part is that unlike most movies these days which die after interval, this one peaks during climax and carries a 'happy ending'.

• Music has a usual Vishal Bhardwaj stamping and camera work too has the darkness quotient of Vishalism. Going by the serious subject highlighted by MKBKM, the entertainment quotient thereof and super performances by PK and SA, I would go with 3.5 stars out of 5. One time watch to banti hai bhai!

P.S.: Be ready to get 'beaucoup De' 'gaalis', which has now become a common culture in Bollywood flicks now!

So the most crowd pleasing title Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola having a distinctive casting, offbeat music and the film which grabbed most of the attention towards, Vishal Bhardwaj after his terrible 7 Khoon Maaf returns with this original story of MKBKM. Bhardwaj has always tried to be original towards his plot, think of Kaminey where the film worked with critics along with the masses too. Bhardwaj is a kind of director who gets adjusted to his surroundings vividly. Bhardwaj's music is unique having a typical title track, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola starring Imran Khan ( Matru ), Anushka Sharma ( Bijlee ) and Pankaj Kapoor ( Mandola ). Though this casting is different from anyone's point of view but worked brilliantly at this piece of cinema.

The plot displays unrefined rural locales of Haryana where a kinky, odd industrialist Harry Mandola ( Pankaj Kapoor ). The village is named after his surname Mandola. He himself, known as Mandola most oftenly, is a personality with acuteness in his thinking regarding money, serious, cunning and slick. Mandola wanted his area to be announced as an economic ward obliged to which he forces the native residents who had their farmlands, to sell and leave the village. But Politician Chaudhari Devi ( Shabana Azmi ) who appeals him into thwarting off the villagers. Mandola's MONEY while Chaudhari Devi's POWER can only unite when their offspring's get married to each other. In the midst of all, Mandola's Man Friday Matru ( Imran Khan ) who has nothing to do with these situations enters them, tends to bring some drastic change against land extortion and defends the villagers.

The scenery is captured beautifully, though it is unrefined, raw but that's the beauty of this film. Bhardwaj puts the best comical scenes between the breathtaking star Pankaj Kapoor and Imran Khan, who just sets the cinema on the right track. Imran Khan gets the mood for watching such a type of genre while Pankaj traps everyone in his histrionics. The Director then ( itself in the first half ) tries to bring a mysterious character Gulabi Bhains ( Mao ) but the balloon burst right before the interval leaving nothing to forecast in the second half. Practicality is what Vishal Bhardwaj tends to assure in 'Matri Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola' and it forces him to choose for a midway which was more apt towards deep red before pink. The abusive manner doesn't consent an impact pretty much like the odd and unusual presence of Gulabi bains (Buffalo). The song 'Jiski kheti uski zameen, hatt lootne wale' conjointly imitates the same emotions.

All in all to be a Vishal Bhardwaj's film you expect some twists in the second half but the plot is empty making everyone go predictably right and have a banausic continuity. The man who stands alone in the film is Pankaj Kapoor with his stupendous drama. He just fills the glass which was emptied by the storyline to the way it had to be. Pankaj Kapoor's drama win right from the very first shot where he is in his drunken amazement scowling some Haryanvi dialogues. Shabana Azmi gets an easy role but stills does as if she has somnambulism problem.Anushka is good, peppy and cheerful.

Pankaj Kapoor saves this film with his acclaimed acting but still Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola departs you displeasedly. In all the second half is sluggish and most foreseeable without any twist and turns.

There is one thing I genuinely like about the General audience. If they don't like a movie, they would not care two hoots, unlike most of our critics and 'thinking-audience', about the film-maker who made it. If they think something is trash, Trash is what they call it. On the other hand, Critics and the 'intellectuals' are forced to think twice before rubbishing any film by a maverick film-maker.

But the bitter truth is - if we take out the name - Vishal Bhardwaj - there is very little else to savour in the whacky yet directionless 'Matru ki Bijlee Ka Mandola'.

Don't get me wrong, but its a rather disquieting experience to see the guy who made Maqbool, Omkara & Kaminey fail to realise a concept to its fullest - that had much potential for humour as well as intensity, for style as much as sincerity.

Not to say that Bhardwaj doesn't pull it off at all. Perhaps the most charming parts of MKBKM are the ones belonging to first half, where the film comfortably veers ahead with a couldn't-care-less sort of leisurely pace, never bothering to 'take the story forward' - an aura which seems even more apt considering the milieu it is set in.

The film begins with two POVs of the same scene - letting us in early enough about the stylistic brush-strokes he is going to use perhaps, further for his latest offering. Mandola - Now here is a character who acts Suicidally moral when drunk, and acts according to the world's evil ways when in his prime. The confidence comes across in the initial reels when the film charters its path sans any melodramatic dispositions - leisurely pace is an aura very few directors manage to pull off, and its not surprising when Bhardwaj does that.

Whats unsettling is how overboard Bhardwaj went and simply wrote and wrote this script until there was possibly nothing else of color that could be incorporated. As a result, the narrative looks too stuffed and sadly the film hardly ever manages to keep count of all its tone-shifts and mood-swings.

The whacky plot-devices are in abundance here, and even work to a very great extent - A boy gifting an entire Zulu tribe to his would-be is quite a thought, just because she had mentioned some odd day about her fetish for African music.There is an alarmingly incestuous angle to the relationship-mechanics as well, well treated and sans any malice. Apart from these, There is an identity-closure angle, there is a Zulu tribe, we have a very brief UFO scene, A hi-end exec asks one of our leads at least three times about "the revolution".. and then amidst all of this, Mandola (Pankaj Kapur) can't help locking eyes with a all-too- smiling pink buffalo.

Bhardwaj has a lot on his patische here, and tries his level best to make sense by bringing all of them together on one sheet. At times, he even resembles a novelist - playing with the immense possibilities of all the sub-plot that promise some thrill, some mood. One of the most set-piece is delivered when Mandola talks about his dreams as we envision them - the granduer of them all is too overwhelming, and Bhardwaj underlines the whimsical over-the-topness of it all by making the clouds appear and rain.

But when a mood-movie like this enters into a zone where the plot seems too self-important, the balance is simply lost altogether. Because as much as we dilly-dally with the crazy touches and little details, the 'story-listener' in us viewers constantly feels troubled by the ultimate direction MKBKM takes - by the pre-climax seeming like a loosely-knit 'Peepli Live', a satirical comedy about one of the most important issues plaguing our nation.

And despite exceptional performances by Pankaj Kapur (who is mindblowing throughout, actually) and Anushka Sharma in the final portions, the climax does exactly what one fears it would - fail to tie all the madcap strings together well enough, to create a concrete madcap comedy. This is a 'neither-here-nor-there' case, clearly - watchable but had lot more potential.

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.

Pankaj Kapur is the life and soul of this film, delivering an acting masterclass and a riveting performance, that, combined with the overall sheer zaniness and its excellent, rustic dialogue, keeps you hooked and helps gloss over the wafer-thin plot and limited acting skills / suitability of Imran for the lead role

Whether in the opening sequence, while trying to cajole the Theke wala before ultimately driving his limo through his shed. Or trying to persuade the well to move out of his way. Or inciting a revolt amongst the farmers against himself, the man who knows how to make a plan take off but not land, who speaks flawless English when sober and thet Haryanvi when drunk on his favourite desi, Pankaj Kapur is the man with a vision.

As he explains to his delicious (his words, not mine) partner in crime, Shabana, he finds the sight of agricultural fields boring. He would prefer smoke belching factories, a concrete jungle, cubby-hole apartments for workers, whom you pay salaries with one hand and set up glitzy malls to take it all away with another. Shabana, a minister bank rolled by Pankaj's wealth is only too willing as an accomplice, even playing footsie with him during meetings with officials. And the marriage between her son, a superbly played idiot by Arya Babbar and Pankaj's feisty daughter, Anushka should settle matters once and for all.

The only impediment is Pankaj's valet cum driver cum drinking parner, Imran. A leftist, rabble rousing, JNU educated (that explains everything, doesn't it ?) villager, he wants to rally the remaining farmers to not give up their land, to continue to farm.

Shabana's dark, villainous turn, reminiscent of her evil-exuding role in Loins of Punjab Presents is excellent. Arya throws himself enthusiastically in his role of a well-meaning, slightly daft Mama's boy. Anushka doesn't have much to do apart from fetching apples from the bottom of the pond, sympathizing with the villagers and going around bit confused but she does it well.

There is a message here somewhere. Not that hard to get, nor a particularly new one where the rich, the powerful and the politicians combine to loot the common man who is soon left with no option but to succumb to the crumbs being offered to him. In any case, it's a message told with flair, panache and a craziness involving more than a few pink buffaloes