Review: Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola

By Team-MRP at 21 January, at 02 : 49 AM Print

The one thing that caught my attention towards the flick ‘Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola’ was its soul – Pankaj Kapur who made it tolerable for the viewers that almost went to sleep watching the dull screenplay and cold chemistry shared between the lead pair, Anushka Sharma and Imran Khan.  The flick, though, showed much promise when it hit the TV scenes with its promos, failed to keep the viewers hooked on the screens. The tattooed lower back of the actress, too, failed to keep anyone interested.

Directed by the talented Vishal Bharadwaj, the movie is a romantic comedy that stars Pankaj Kapur, Anushka Sharma, Imran Khan, Shabana Azmi and Arya Babbar and it hit the theatres on 11^th January, 2013. However, it could collect only $1.12 million at its opening day, quite low as compared to other movies that released around the same time.

The flick is a comedy and is a satirical take on the dirty and murky world of politicians that do not want to let go of any opportunity to make money, no matter what the repercussions are. While, the character of Mandola has been played with aplomb by Pankaj Kapur, it is his chemistry with the ‘ITEM GIRL’ aka ‘Gulabi Bhains’ of the flick that brings some entertaining factor to the slow movie. The roles of Bijli and Matru are played by the two leading actors, and Azmi, a known face in parallel cinema, plays the character of Chaudhari Devi, a cunning politician. Arya Babbar plays her opportunistic son that wants to grab the land and property of the Mandola clan.

What I liked about the flick was its share of twists and turns that showed how politics can play with young lives and can prove detrimental to values and ethics human beings have come to forget.  Whist, sitting at the theater, I could see many a bored faces that had come with huge expectations , since this flick is probably the most commercial movie to have been directed by Bharadwaj and had lot of aspirations. Unfortunately, the story is loosely woven and fails to deliver the oomph that most associate with a Bharadwaj flick. Unlike Omkara, this flick deals with the subject of politics in a rather irksome manner and it doesn’t matter much to have Kapur on board.

Most that went expecting a lot of comedic scenes were left disappointed since there are many instances where the flick slows and there isn’t anything that you don’t see getting repeated. For me, watching Anushka perform her role was really boring and the sense of déjà vu prevailed since the actress has not done much to reinvent herself. Watching her made me feel as if I had gone back to the Band Baja Baraat days. Same old smile and tiresome acting is what put me off when watching this flick. For Azmi, we all have seen her play other brilliant roles and this flick hardly does justice to her talents.

For most trade pundits Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola is a flick that can go down very well with the people of a certain region and class. For others, it would simply turn out to be a mediocre flick. One can watch it for Kapur’s performance and nothing else.

Bollywood, Reviews