Hilarious and good fun
12 Jan 2013 12:00 AM GMT
Ever woken up in the middle of a crazy party after passing out for some time? Stumbled out to get more liquor into your system and the absolute chaos all around that leaves you in splits? You can either laugh, carry on with the madness or drink more and then join in the absurdities. Either way, it is one party you are bound to remember. Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola is just that.
One of the most awaited flicks to kickstart 2013, Matru... comes on a nice fuschia pink (well almost) buffalo and drags along red Communism with it. Throw in some wheat yellow of the village locales and there — the movie hits you like your favourite alcoholic poison. For Bharadwaj, it is local liquor Gulabbo. Whatever hits the spot Mr Director!
Set in a village in Haryana, Harry Mandola (Pankaj Kapur) is a hardcore industrialist who transforms into a Socialist when Gulabbo hits the spot. So on one hand, Mandola wants factories and malls and the money, on the other he wants the village to prosper. He has no qualms in ramming his limo into a theka (liquor shop) to get more alcohol, he also drives the same limo to pick up the CM Chaudhry Devi (Shabana Azmi) from the airport. But the latter happens when sobriety punches the man in his gut and shows him the money.
Mandola’s crazy drunkeness revolves around his daughter Bijlee (Anushka Sharma) and his Man Friday Matru (Imran Khan). While Bijlee is supposed to get married to Chaudhry Devi’s buffoon of an offspring Badal (Arya Babbar), a drunken Mandola insists that the Matru-Bijlee jodi is like Mukesh and Tina Ambani.
The political mastermind plans to make a quick buck through this marriage of convenience as she plays a quite footsie with Mandola, but Matru with his Commie bastard streak (result of his JNU hangover), has other plans for the village. And Bijlee with her Meena Kumari complex is on board.
With the elusive figure of Mao hanging heavy over the fate of the village, politics and social welfare collide head-on in a drunken brawl assited by Zulu dancers and an occassionally cud-chewing and chuckling pink buffalo. Absurd? Welcome to this party, says Bharadwaj! Take a bow sir!
Matru... is a crazy movie, but in so far as we can label it so, the issue it deals with plagues perhaps every village in the country, land scams and corrupt politicians. Stepping out of his Shakespeare obsession, Bharadwaj has created perhaps his most political movie till date.
Most may be disappointed at the execution of a plot that seems to meander a bit, but the satire hits out. It makes you hesitate a moment and consider amidst some wide-eyed amazement as smart quirky lines and good comedy flows like desi daru. Make your way through the heavy Haryanvi accent and you have yourself a winner. Without a doubt. No useless songs, no cliches, no OTT Bollywood drama. Matru... is good fun.
While Pankaj Kapur steals the show, Anushka and Imran are worthy companions in this theatre of the absurd. Leitmotifs abound in communist meetings, African tribes, limousines and the text of Macbeth. You can take Bharadwaj out of another Shakespeare rendition, but you can’t take Shakespeare out of Bharadwaj. Imran looks exceedingly hot in his rustic avatar and Anushka is a delight. But fear lingers that the lady is being typecast a bit too often for her good. Azmi aces her role as expected and Babbar should take his on-screen buffoonery as something permanent. Works for him.
One of the most awaited flicks to kickstart 2013, Matru... comes on a nice fuschia pink (well almost) buffalo and drags along red Communism with it. Throw in some wheat yellow of the village locales and there — the movie hits you like your favourite alcoholic poison. For Bharadwaj, it is local liquor Gulabbo. Whatever hits the spot Mr Director!
Set in a village in Haryana, Harry Mandola (Pankaj Kapur) is a hardcore industrialist who transforms into a Socialist when Gulabbo hits the spot. So on one hand, Mandola wants factories and malls and the money, on the other he wants the village to prosper. He has no qualms in ramming his limo into a theka (liquor shop) to get more alcohol, he also drives the same limo to pick up the CM Chaudhry Devi (Shabana Azmi) from the airport. But the latter happens when sobriety punches the man in his gut and shows him the money.
Mandola’s crazy drunkeness revolves around his daughter Bijlee (Anushka Sharma) and his Man Friday Matru (Imran Khan). While Bijlee is supposed to get married to Chaudhry Devi’s buffoon of an offspring Badal (Arya Babbar), a drunken Mandola insists that the Matru-Bijlee jodi is like Mukesh and Tina Ambani.
The political mastermind plans to make a quick buck through this marriage of convenience as she plays a quite footsie with Mandola, but Matru with his Commie bastard streak (result of his JNU hangover), has other plans for the village. And Bijlee with her Meena Kumari complex is on board.
With the elusive figure of Mao hanging heavy over the fate of the village, politics and social welfare collide head-on in a drunken brawl assited by Zulu dancers and an occassionally cud-chewing and chuckling pink buffalo. Absurd? Welcome to this party, says Bharadwaj! Take a bow sir!
Matru... is a crazy movie, but in so far as we can label it so, the issue it deals with plagues perhaps every village in the country, land scams and corrupt politicians. Stepping out of his Shakespeare obsession, Bharadwaj has created perhaps his most political movie till date.
Most may be disappointed at the execution of a plot that seems to meander a bit, but the satire hits out. It makes you hesitate a moment and consider amidst some wide-eyed amazement as smart quirky lines and good comedy flows like desi daru. Make your way through the heavy Haryanvi accent and you have yourself a winner. Without a doubt. No useless songs, no cliches, no OTT Bollywood drama. Matru... is good fun.
While Pankaj Kapur steals the show, Anushka and Imran are worthy companions in this theatre of the absurd. Leitmotifs abound in communist meetings, African tribes, limousines and the text of Macbeth. You can take Bharadwaj out of another Shakespeare rendition, but you can’t take Shakespeare out of Bharadwaj. Imran looks exceedingly hot in his rustic avatar and Anushka is a delight. But fear lingers that the lady is being typecast a bit too often for her good. Azmi aces her role as expected and Babbar should take his on-screen buffoonery as something permanent. Works for him.
Next Story
