Life in a Metro

The products of the Hindi film industry are mostly mediocre stuff, run of the mill love stories or rehashes of long forgotten films with ideas and stunts which are directly copied from Hollywood movies. But, once in a while comes a film from the Bollywood Stables, which breaks out of the typical Hindi film industry mould. It is this kind of a film which comes to pass as a breath of fresh air in an otherwise pungently predictable production progression of poor pictures. I usually have to wait for months for such a film, a film without lovers running around trees or parents conspiring to separate their lovelorn children or lovers sacrificing (sic) their love for the sake of their parents/friends or corrupt politicians and cops and a super-hero who wins against all odds, bashing up hundreds of goons in the process.

Life in a Metro seemed to be a film which broke out the Bollywood mould and it did try to, but somehow fell short. It was typical in a Bollywood sense that it was a rehash of many a Hollywood movie but, they were Hollywood movies of yesteryear and to the director’s good fortune most youngsters in India wouldn’t have watched it. As far as the performances were concerned, this might be Shilpa Shetty’s best display of her measly acting skills after her performance at Big Brother. Irrfan Khan and Konkona Sen were good but, they usually are so. The surprise package for me was Kay Kay Menon. I thought he was just a singer with acting ambitions but he put in a powerful performance. Kangana Ranaut looked good in her new hair style but that was about it. The Dharmendra – Nafisa Ali track was not only very awkward but also lacked the spunk and passion of a love story. The one emotion missing in it was Anger; no woman would so easily forgive and forget her lover who stood her up and abandoned her for his own selfish reasons. And finally when Bollywood showed a couple in love, making out on the bed, it turned out to be a 70+ Dharmendra and 60+ Nafisa Ali! The tongue in cheek backdrop of a BPO/ call centre makes an attempt to play on the audience’s perception of such places as a hub of all vices. The director also apes the new Bollywood trait of introducing homosexual characters who are afraid to come out of the closet; atleast he avoided the making a mockery of the gay character. One of the main flaws was improper presentation of one central character of the movie, not the misfit Shiny Ahuja, but the city of Mumbai. Mumbai was represented by the incessant rains throughout the film with the Metro band popping out now & then to play their stuff. There was no typical hustle-bustle of the Mumbai crowds portrayed either on the streets or in the railway stations and knowing the fast capitalist life-style of Mumbai I doubt if Mumbaiites have time for an extra-marital affair in their chock-a-block lifestyles.

The film was doomed as soon as the director decided to make a film about extra-marital affairs in India, without comprehending the maturity level required for such a topic to be presented and the need for a necessary amount of skin show which would be essential to the story. If the Shilpa-Shiny situation had been shown as Shilpa giving in totally to her passion, or if in the final scene, if Shilpa had walked out on her husband, I would have got up and saluted the director. Instead, he chose to play it safe for fear of offending the moral sensibilities of the majority which still cannot digest a woman looking for and finding love outside wedlock or dumping her husband even though he is a serial-cheater. The idea was right, but all it took was yet another cowardly director to spoil the broth.

At the end of it all, I’m still waiting for a non-typical Bollywood movie this year.