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IF-Dazzler
Joined: 26 July 2007
Posts: 4980
A scene from the Bollywood movie 'Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola'.
A limousine, bang in the middle of a flourishing wheat field, crashes into a
liquor store few feet away. The reason, takes us back 10 minutes into the past,
where a drunken boss and his equally smashed driver are rejected at the counter
because it's a "dry day". Even an attempt at bribery is foiled after the
shopkeeper condemns the men's drunken stupor.
The punishment, thus,
comes 10 minutes later.
From there on, 'Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola' takes
us into a whirlwind journey that's incredibly crafted, brilliantly textured, and
lusciously witted.
The narrative never loses focus, and plods along with
effortless ease and impeccable finesse. Each situation is created with utmost
sincerity and each line is written with tremendous delight.
Very rarely
in Bollywood does political satire get a chance to play out, mostly because it's
a stage that predominately glorifies the boisterous action heroes and mushy
lover boys, and never the underdog or the corrupt system. And, even if it does,
it's often treated grim.
But, master-storyteller Vishal Bharadwaj steps
in to alter that. He uses his quirky sense of humour to turn the politics of an
unjust society, and probably Hindi cinema, around. And, he's got an aged,
double-layered landlord, a light-eyed Communist and a gorgeous wild child to
help him in the exercise.
His satire remains what it sets out to do,
without ever shifting into a full-fledged reform movement. And, therein lies his
brilliance.
Mandola is introduced cheerfully inebriated and prodding the
poverty-stricken farmers to start a revolution against his own unjust practices
as an ambitious landlord. He even tunes the warring slogans and takes the
villagers' procession to his own majestic palace, only to slink off to the
back-door with promises of re-appearing with a just solution.
But, when
he re-emerges, Mandola shifts in temperament, walking into the crowd with a
loaded gun and chasing off the protestors.
There emerges his distressed
personality. He's an emotional fool when intoxicated, and a ruthless, miserly
landlord when sober.
And this shift in character is what his driver Matru
manipulates to help the ill-fated villagers from losing their land and walking
out of a debt trap.
His game plan is, however, stalled when Mandola
announces his decision to quit drinking.
His only hope reappears in the
form of a 'pink buffalo', which haunts, and tempts, a clear-headed
Mandola.
That's not all. Matru must also break the marriage alliance
where Mandola carelessly offers his daughter Bijlee to wed politician Chaudhari
Devi's son Baadal.
What ensues is a power struggle that's often comical,
yet thought-provoking and insightful.
Vishal's comic genius is evident in
the scene where the drunk Mandola and Matru struggle to move a well from one
corner of the village to another, only because they are unhappy with its current
position.
Pankaj Kapur gives the wrinkled Mandola an incredible edge.
He's warm and childish at one moment, and fiercely guarded at another, yet he
never hams it up. He's exceptionally pitch-perfect. His addiction to the
pink-coloured poison 'Gulabo' is as endearing to watch as his dreams of turning
into a big industrialist.
Kohl-smeared Anushka Sharma breathes fire into
the feisty Bijlee. She's at her finest, dealing with her romantic insecurities
and desires with aplomb.
Shabana Azmi's conniving act as greedy
legislator and Arya Babbar's dim-witted take on her obedient son is
remarkable.
If there's one casting miscalculation, it's the bearded Imran
Khan, who unfortunately is unable to match up. He tries, but a bit too hard.
There are rare glances of an ideal Matru, but those are far too few to be
remembered.
With a bucolic soundtrack, a simple story, wickedly funny
lines and astounding performances, Vishal has surely outdone himself this time.
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you2
IF-Dazzler
Joined: 26 July 2007
Posts: 4980
Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is a movie set in the rustic locales of Mandola (a village in Haryana). And same is a part of Haripool aka Harry Mandola's (Pankaj Kapur) name, who turns into Hariya after four pegs of Gulabo – a (local) brand of alcohol. Gulabo – either in the form of a bottle or a cow – keeps appearing in the movie every 15 minutes. But try to keep your mind off this (obvious) detail or the movie will become as predictable as a Monday morning.
The movie roughly revolves around the fertile land owned by the dwellers of Mandola that Madam Politician (Shabana Azmi) and Mr Mandola are eyeing for their personal gain. So how does Matru (Imran Khan) figure into all this, you may ask. Matru is Mandola's rugged man Friday, who tries his best to save the villagers from Mandola's evil intentions.
Anushka Sharma aka Bijlee plays the role of Mandola's daughter and is her usual chirpy self who does a great job of prancing around with an ear-to-ear grin pasted on her lovely face.
Then there's Baadal (Arya Babbar), who is Madam Politician's son – a dumb, rich kid whose sole purpose in life is to get married to Bijlee so that he and his Mommy can enjoy Mandola's wealth thereafter.
The movie moves at an easy pace as all the characters get sketched at leisure. Vishal Bhardwaj has taken enough care to incorporate ample songs that allow tiny loo breaks throughout the movie. So, don't fret if you missed out on popcorn during the interval; you always stand a chance to buy it during one of the numbers where nothing actually gets added to the storyline.
While the pace or twists are nothing to boast of, we appreciate the way Bhardwaj has kept the rustic flavour intact all through the movie. And adding to it all is Pankaj Kapur's flawless performance that makes us fall in love with him right from the opening scene.
Imran has done a good job at looking rugged, though he did slip into his usual guy-next-door persona a couple of times. But on the whole, commendable.
So if you have an option of watching the movie at a theatre or waiting for it to premiere on television, we suggest you choose the second. Trust us, you won't be missing out on anything.
And one message for Vishal Bhardwaj as we sign off – you can do better!
Rating: 2.5 /5
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you2
IF-Dazzler
Joined: 26 July 2007
Posts: 4980
Making: Anushka's pond scene in 'Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola' |
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IF-Sizzlerz
Joined: 19 May 2009
Posts: 12803
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EvilR
Senior Member
Joined: 06 September 2012
Posts: 390
Joker + Aiyyaa = Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola 
This guy write rewiews for Desi Martini.
Karan.
IF-Dazzler
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Posts: 3240
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Joined: 26 July 2007
Posts: 4980
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twix, czarcastic.,Popular Search Terms: vigil idiot matru, content
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