Madras Cafe

Madras Cafe is a kind of political and espionage thriller that Bollywood never tried before. First half requires your patience. It is a mix of striking visuals, haunting sound design, introduction of key characters, their motives and the felling that something is not right. Second half is a piece of cinematic perfection where characters gets meaty dialogs, feel of danger keeps growing and finally in the climax you feel helpless like our hero. Based on actual events mixed with fictitious characters, Madras Cafe becomes a very important movie that should be watched by every Indian. Acting is top-notch. You won't be able to forget the imagery of first half and tension of second half long after the end credit starts. Director Shoojit Sarkar provides the ample conviction and uniqueness to whole idea and surprises you with his versatility (he directed Vicky Donor before). The movie has little flaws like packing too much information in first half and few key details not described clearly. But I can say with full comfort that it would be a mistake if you give this movie a miss.

Madras Cafe is a wonderful representation of Sri Lankan civil war from the viewpoint of India. Critics state that it fails to capture the emotional aspect of the war but it was never meant to be viewed from the Lankan point of view.

It is a non Bollywoodish movie where we find no songs, dancing etc. There is no stupid romantic crap in the movie which other Indian political movies show. Relationship of John and Nargis is strictly professional(the way it should be).

One of the best Indian movies of the year after probably D Day and Ranjhaana. WATCH IT PEOPLE!!!

There is absolutely no reason why you should not watch this movie. It is by all means a pretty decent thriller. Utterly devoid of the superfluities and terse to the point of being of labelled as "un-bollywoodish" the movie represents all that is desirable in an entertainer.

My brother quite ably put it into words when he declared that the charm of the movie lay in it's abstinence from over indulgence.

John Abraham does a commendable job (except for , may be a few scenes, where it is his bad make up and hair do which need to be blamed more than him) .

He is supported by an able cast of actors who deliver credible performances.

The script isn't circumlocutory and the Director isn't shy of laying down facts and opinions in an unequivocal and objective manner.

The absence of songs , does wonders for the health of the audience and the movie too. Needless to say there is no parallel romantic plot disturbing the flow of the narrative.

In fact the movie checks itself every time there a temptation beckoning it over do things.

The Director is honest and doesn't mince his words when describing the situation as as he sees it.

If you have stepped out for a movie and are thinking about catching the last express to chennai , believe me , you ought to change your itinerary and catch a cup of coffee in the café.

Probably the best movie of it's genre(spy/espionage/war/politics) from the Indian sub continent ever. Well researched, scripted and dramatized with a gripping pace and thrilling twists. Indian commercial movies normally have very faint reflection of reality or they go overboard in their desire to please all with more than a pinch of spice, item songs, super hero justifications and other indispensable Indian commercial considerations. But this one beats it all and yet retains the charm of a commercial flick. A perfect balance and a fine confluence of commerce and art,rarely seen in Indian cinema. A very strong script with probably the first ever peep into the working of Indian Intelligence Agencies and a panoramic capture of serious geopolitical subject with utmost honesty. A movie which remains true to the core yet maintains a edge of the seat drama through out. Not to be missed for the lovers of good Indian cinema, meaningful & superbly entertaining.

The political opponents of this film have been proved wrong. Politicians and their sidekicks should first watch the movie before they start screaming "ban, ban"! The film manages to take a cleverly done objective stance of the LTTE fight for Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka and the circumstances that led to the killing of former India PM Rajiv Gandhi. The film could have a better impact if it used names of the real people they trying to portray instead of resorting to semantics to camouflage their identities, while at the same time making it so obvious as to who the characters represent. However, overall it is a thriller which works well unlike Kamaal Haasan's "Vishwaroopam" released few months ago, with a similar theme.