Life in a Metro - Bittersweet

Actually you never give up longing for love, and you don't have to be living in a big city to wish for love.  Small town or big, people are always looking for love.  The characters you find in this film walk among us; you will run into anytime, anyplace.. looking for a kiosk to buy cigarettes, flipping through a magazine in the doctor's waiting room, sitting by you on the bus, living in your neighborhood, your home, your skin.

That is the trump card of the movie.  The characters are real, the dialogue is what we call  ’sadharan bol chal ki bhasha’, (un-grandiose).    The center piece is undoubtably, Shilpa Shetty.  This is so unlike the item girl she was reduced to by the formula filmmakers.  I hope she gets some good roles hereafter.

The movie takes you through the lives of four women, Shikha, Shruti, Neha and Shivani.  Shikha (Shilpa Shetty) is at a loose end with a husband who no longer loves her. Shruti (Konkona Sen) is looking for a life partner, Neha (Kangana Ranaut) is filling the void in her life with a sugar daddy, Shivani (Nafisa Ali) gets a bonus in shape of an old boyfriend homing in, 40 years too late.  The movie takes us through the wrong and right turns the women take.  Among the men  there is Ranjeet (KayKay), husband to Shikha and sugar daddy to Neha, his secretary.  Amol (Dharmendra) who had dumped Shivani years ago, because he wanted to get ahead in life.  Rahul (Sharman Joshi) works in Ranjeet's call center and  adores Neha,  Akash (Shiney) who bumps into Shikha on a bus and gets friendly with her, and Monty (Irfan Khan) who pops up too often in the life of Shruti to be ignored.

The director wastes the minimum possible footage to sketch the characters quickly.  As the titles roll, we get quick sketches of where all the lead characters are in their lives.  As the songs play, we get an overview of what the characters are doing at the moment. This allows you to grasp the story in a jiffy.  The product placement is also quickly dispensed with (Radio Mirchi and Shaadi.com) so that we may get on with the story.  The peppy dialogues, the faultless delivery, the clever use of voice-overs, keep the movie moving at a smart pace and audience rofl -ing so the proceedings don't get too morose.


The movie makes you think, and realise that everyone is looking for love and that to keep your heart and mind open is more important.  Shivani did not let a past grudge stop her from meeting Amol, and shared some lovely moments with him.  Shruti learns to look beyond the ordinary-ness of Monty and love him for being a friend (that gregarious whale -- he is lovable).  Neha learns to appreciate the sweet adoration of Sharman.





The movie is worth a watch for many reasons,  one of them being the band that sings about the current angst of the characters among the pavements and rooftops of Mumbai.  The songs are all lovely.  They sound good after the three years that have passed since the films release.


I end got a bit melodramatic for Konkona and Ifran, but they carried it off very well, I must say.  All other stories were wrapped up well.

First they stood together on the stage ..

Then he turned to the crowds and shouted : No condom no sex

The crowd clapped and cheered.

Then he turned towards the lady and saluted her .. thus;

And thus;

And the crowds they roared and cheered.

That would have been the end of the matter, but the Aids Awareness event for Truckers in Delhi was a well covered event. With two celebrities like Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty on stage, there was ample video, still and press coverage. The news channels went berserk relaying the ‘kissing clip’ again and again. One guy got so mad (in far away Jaipur) that he file a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) and got an arrest warrant out for Richard Gere. But then, Richard Gere isnt an Indian Citizen. Now the matter has gone sub-judice and next hearing is on 26^th May. Indian citizens may be keep their TVs switched off against an onslaught of the ‘kissing clip’ once again. Curious NRI’s may search the You Tube for the same. There are plenty of zealous souls out there helping the world know what Shilpa and Gere did.

Gere is in India so very often. He is a disciple of Dalai Lama and forever zooming down to Dharamsala. Then he spends ample time in Mumbai’s socialite circles helping their various causes, attending dinners et all. Pinkbee thinks he should be well aware of the Indian aversion to PDA. (public display of affection- for the uninitiated) Upon being introduced, there are women who will look stonily at the profferred hand and say ‘namaste’ with folded hands instead. This happens in several Barjatya movies too. Young people are supposed to dip down and touch your feet instead of shaking hands. But then, Sigh, this is Pinkbee’s middle class world. In the higher socities people peck at cheeks all the time, and which Socialite would scorn a peck on the cheek by an International Star?

Maybe Gere wanted to give a live demo of ‘No condom no sex’ when he spotted Shilpa by his side, and teach his audience how to go ‘thus far and no further’. His motivation is a mystery to Pinkbee and she wishes the matter would go away. Alas, Shilpa pops up again and says – Gere calls me at least once a day and sometimes twice too inquire about my welfare. He is concerned and wants to know if I am coping well with all the adverse publicity. He is a gentleman, if not an officer. India gets a regressive image abroad by all this tut-tuts Shilpa. But the regressive crowds are here : they are burning effigies and photographs.

Pic3

They want their share of the publicity pie. They are not bothered about India’s image abroad.

The hoi polloi (like yours truly) say, we are not like that, we don’t think there is any harm in that kiss. The media is trying to milk TRPs, The PIL guy is looking for publicity, the effigy burning crowds are looking for publicity, Shilpa and Gere are getting publicity. The truckers have had their fun. Let it RIP

pinkbee