Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
Year: 2013
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Cast: Pankaj Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma

Post-Makdee, Maqbool, Omkara, Blue Umbrella and Kaminey, Vishal Bhardwaj rose to become one of the hottest independent-minded directors. He showed that he was equally adept at making Shakespearean adaptations, children- stories and crime- capers. His penchant for grey characters and pungent earthy language was obvious by then. Then came his first serious misstep Saaat Khoon Maaf, a psychological crime saga about a woman killing off her seven husbands. While turning this Ruskin Bond-story into a film, Bhardwaj erred in delving more into creating the atmosphere, rather than telling an interesting story.

So when he announced the making of Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, I was waiting to see if he has regained his edgy story-telling skills. There was an added interest since the film was said to be Bhrdwaj’s first foray into comedy, or rather political satire genre. In that context, how does this film finally come across?

What’s the plot?

A ruthless businessman (Pankaj Kapoor) is planning to take over all the farming lands near his town in order to make a huge industrial complex. Making an underhand deal with the corrupt Chief Minister (Shabana Azmi), he is all set to grab the land from the poor farmers. As a part of the deal, he has even promised his daughter’s (Anushka Sharma) hand for the CM’s good-for-nothing son (Aditya Babbar).

The tycoon’s young assistant (Imran Khan), a secret reformist, is the only one who could thwart these unholy schemes. How would he do that?

What’s hot?

·         The veterans (Pankaj Kapoor and Shabana Azmi) get maximum footage and as usual, they deliver fine performances. Kapoor’s businessman with a split personality and Azmi’s cunning CM are memorable portrayals.

·         Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma and Aditya Babbar do their best in their ill-sketched roles.

·         A few interesting sequences.

What’s not?

·         This film trying to walk the comedy/satire- way, hardly makes you smile, let alone laugh!

·         The romantic angle is left unexplored.

·         The Haryanavi lingo (especially in Kapoor’s slurred style) is many times hard to understand.

·         The plot and the direction, both, don’t have any special ammunition to make a blast. Even the music fails to enthuse.

·         ‘The unholy nexus of businessmen, politicians and bureaucrats trying to dupe the common man’ is a theme done to death. To make it work as a satire, it needed a lot of novelty and humor. Unfortunately Bhardwaj fails to bring those qualities into the film.

Verdict

Good intentions, poor execution.

Bhardwaj needs to do a serious rethinking about his film-making style. The gripping story-telling, which was his strength once, is not to be seen in his recent ventures.

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is far too fuzzy film, which fizzles!