Matru, Bijlee e 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!

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 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.

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 generally don't do film reviews and frankly I wouldn't have done this unless my driver hadn't been late to pick me up.So if you hate this post, you know whom to blame.

That done with, Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola or MKBKM is in one word, a riot.You can easily see Vishal Bhardwaj dripping all over this flick as he does an excellent job directing this movie(and singing one of the tracks as well).I wont give away the plot but it revolves around three characters: Harry Mandola, a rustic rich construction business owner who's acute alcohol consumption keeps him swinging between two personalities i.e. a bumbling,heavily accented fool and the other of a suave,daughter adoring father.Second is Bijli, Harry's daughter who is a beautiful,wild spirited girl with a golden heart.She's childhood friends with the last main character,Matru. Matru is a LLB graduate who works for Harry as a driver cum man-Friday. Oh! Did I mention Gulabo, the pink buffalo?

So,with that background,the plot revolves around a hostile government land acquisition in a village.But in MKBKM, it's not the plot but the funny little scenes which matter.Both,intense and comic at the same time,Bhardwaj has created a film which is obvious in it's plot yet keeps your wit running as to what happens next. Pankaj Kapur takes away the accolades for his brilliant acting and performance while Anushka's role was far more of being eye-candy with assistance in sub plots (Not that I'm complaining!). Imran Khan too plays second fiddle to Pankaj Kapoor, but his skills and versatility as an actor are simply great.The music as well as direction had the usual yet hatke style of all Vishal Bhardwaj movies. Lastly, the flaws. The dialogues although well written, were heavily accented and required a bit of North Indian blood in you to grasp their meaning. Secondly, although the movie is rated U/A and there are no scenes of sexual depictions, the sly abuse laced language could result in some odd questions from a younger crowd. I mean would you be willing to answer a 7 year old's question: "What does Bhencho mean?" Plus, some scenes are blunt and simply added for over dramatization so if you're one of those so called "true cinema lovers", you might throw up. So to sum it up, as Anushka Sharma's waist says, Dekho Magar Pyaar Se ;)