Movie Review: Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola
Where do I start with? There are so many different thoughts going around in my head when I start to think about the movie, its difficult to know where to begin!
First of all comes the title. Where did Vishal Bhardwaj come up with this? Its so interesting the first time you hear it and when you realize its made up of the names of the three leads of the movie, makes it sound even more cool. And makes you wonder, how will a story with someone named Mandola go?
And then there is the trailer, it is so wacky and over the top its enough to peck up your interest. It makes you wonder, can something BE so random? And the movie does not disappoint. It IS as wacky as the trailer promises it to be!
The setting is a village in Haryana (my des!) where all the three characters in the title reside. Mandola is the rich guy in the village who wants (by hook or crook) the farmers of the village to sell their farmland to build his factory. Matru is his driver who sides in secret (and as Mao Tse Tung) with the villagers. Bijlee is Mandola's daughter. And there is the politician, Chaudhary Devi who is helping Mandola realize his dreams. And her son, Badal who is soon to be wed to Bijlee.
And what follows is 2.5 hours of sequence after sequence, each of which is memorable; whether it is the beginning of the movie when a Mercedes rams into a 'desi sharab ka theka', or Mandola's drunken procession against himself, or him flying in his aircraft at night without knowing how to land, or the introduction of the African dancers or the pink buffalo or a blind boy's efforts to find his missing underwear or a drunk Matru and Mandola trying to pull a well out of the way or.. the list goes on, its endless.
Sometimes the movie does get a bit slow, but you come out of the theatre remembering all these moments and so it is all worth it. The characterizations are amazing. Mandola's transformation when he is drunk into a completely different (and good) person is so well carried out, you almost start believing its real. Pankaj Kapur is really in a class of his own and you get to see it throughout the movie.
Imran does not really fit in the rustic look fully but that can be ignored. Anushka's character felt out of place too, a rebel without a cause, but again the whole setting makes her also ignorable. Her antics felt too brazen though and maybe its time she does something different? Her routine loud mouthed acts are getting boring and irritating now.
The movie was nowhere near perfect actually, with plenty of flaws: the Haryanvi language used was not consistent at all, some of the characters did not fit in the rural setting, Shabana's character was weak and too caricaturish. But as I said, the outlandish sequence after sequence make you forget the weak points and focus only on the positives. The movie manages to engage you so much with the fate of the people involved, that when it does rain, you are so involved in the plight of the characters, you feel as sad as the characters itself. Isn't that what a movie is supposed to do, make you feel a part of itself?
There were many messages also embellished in the movie. Drinking is harmful. Politicians and the rich are exploiting the poor. Middlemen are a big problem in rural India. The whole system is corrupt, top to bottom and how tough it is to rebel (even the rain gods take the side of the powerful). All these social messages are presented so subtly that its very easy to miss them.
The music was average, but the background score was so much a part of the movie that it added on the experience. And the addition of African music throughout was a welcome change.
I would go for 3.5 for MKBKM. But I do wonder why such a fun and entertaining movie could not have got good ratings from the critics. Their ratings had almost made me decide not to go for it, but it is the word-of-mouth feedback which convinced me otherwise. Makes one wonder why Jab Tak Hai Jaan could have got better ratings than MKBKM, doesn't it?
First of all comes the title. Where did Vishal Bhardwaj come up with this? Its so interesting the first time you hear it and when you realize its made up of the names of the three leads of the movie, makes it sound even more cool. And makes you wonder, how will a story with someone named Mandola go?
And then there is the trailer, it is so wacky and over the top its enough to peck up your interest. It makes you wonder, can something BE so random? And the movie does not disappoint. It IS as wacky as the trailer promises it to be!
The setting is a village in Haryana (my des!) where all the three characters in the title reside. Mandola is the rich guy in the village who wants (by hook or crook) the farmers of the village to sell their farmland to build his factory. Matru is his driver who sides in secret (and as Mao Tse Tung) with the villagers. Bijlee is Mandola's daughter. And there is the politician, Chaudhary Devi who is helping Mandola realize his dreams. And her son, Badal who is soon to be wed to Bijlee.
And what follows is 2.5 hours of sequence after sequence, each of which is memorable; whether it is the beginning of the movie when a Mercedes rams into a 'desi sharab ka theka', or Mandola's drunken procession against himself, or him flying in his aircraft at night without knowing how to land, or the introduction of the African dancers or the pink buffalo or a blind boy's efforts to find his missing underwear or a drunk Matru and Mandola trying to pull a well out of the way or.. the list goes on, its endless.
Sometimes the movie does get a bit slow, but you come out of the theatre remembering all these moments and so it is all worth it. The characterizations are amazing. Mandola's transformation when he is drunk into a completely different (and good) person is so well carried out, you almost start believing its real. Pankaj Kapur is really in a class of his own and you get to see it throughout the movie.
Imran does not really fit in the rustic look fully but that can be ignored. Anushka's character felt out of place too, a rebel without a cause, but again the whole setting makes her also ignorable. Her antics felt too brazen though and maybe its time she does something different? Her routine loud mouthed acts are getting boring and irritating now.
The movie was nowhere near perfect actually, with plenty of flaws: the Haryanvi language used was not consistent at all, some of the characters did not fit in the rural setting, Shabana's character was weak and too caricaturish. But as I said, the outlandish sequence after sequence make you forget the weak points and focus only on the positives. The movie manages to engage you so much with the fate of the people involved, that when it does rain, you are so involved in the plight of the characters, you feel as sad as the characters itself. Isn't that what a movie is supposed to do, make you feel a part of itself?
There were many messages also embellished in the movie. Drinking is harmful. Politicians and the rich are exploiting the poor. Middlemen are a big problem in rural India. The whole system is corrupt, top to bottom and how tough it is to rebel (even the rain gods take the side of the powerful). All these social messages are presented so subtly that its very easy to miss them.
The music was average, but the background score was so much a part of the movie that it added on the experience. And the addition of African music throughout was a welcome change.
I would go for 3.5 for MKBKM. But I do wonder why such a fun and entertaining movie could not have got good ratings from the critics. Their ratings had almost made me decide not to go for it, but it is the word-of-mouth feedback which convinced me otherwise. Makes one wonder why Jab Tak Hai Jaan could have got better ratings than MKBKM, doesn't it?
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