Rating:2.75/5
Star cast: Pankaj Kapur, Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Arya Babbar, Shabana Azmi.
What’s Good: The funny bits; the Haryanvi setting; Gulabo’s appearances; Pankaj Kapur’s act.
What’s Bad: The slow first half; the undecipherable parts of Pankaj Kapur’s speech; Imran Khan’s lack of rustic charm.
Verdict: Watch it for a nice dose of rustic comedy!
After delving with dark human emotions in movies like Maqbool, Omkara and Kaminey, filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj is back with a crazy comic drama, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, starring Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Pankaj Kapur in the leads. MKBKM has been in the news for it's quirky title and hatke content and the charismatic Gulabi Bhains! And, if we just go by it's trailers and promos, we are sure in for a crazy roller coaster ride.
Harry Mandola (Pankaj Kapur) is a wealthy businessman who’s looking forward to getting the villagers of Mandola to hand over their land to the government so that he can, in turn, buy the land from them and build a car factory. But Harry’s weakness is his drinking habit. Once he downs some juice, he does a Mr-Hyde-to-Dr-Jekyll transforming from a ruthless industrialist to a Robinhood type figure who incites the villagers against himself! To prevent himself from doing so, he has hired Matru (Imran Khan), who’s indebted to Harry after his (Matru’s) grandfather took a loan for his education.Pankaj Kapur is the pivot of the film. However, his character is over-wrought, if not over the top.
The actor pushes himself as far as he can within the limitations imposed on him by the screenplay, but this performance of his is unlikely to rank among his best.
There are moments when Kapur is delightfully droll, but he often lapses into the unintelligible, especially when Mandola sinks into a drunken stupor.
Shabana Azmi is saddled with what is almost a walk-on part. There isn’t much she can do to add value to the mix.
If you’re a Vishal Bhardwaj fan, be prepared for a fare that’s different from his dark, moody style. The fun and songs should keep you going though.
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