Metro- A review

A lot has been written about these Multiplex Movies which are targeted towards a certain niche audience in the Metros. Life in a metro is one such film. I have wanted to watch it for a long time, but somehow one or the other reason I haven't been able to do so until today. It features two actresses who I have had a crush on for a long time: Shilpa & Kangana. I was weary of watching the film because I was afraid that it would disappoint me, and would have a non-existent storyline, with symbolic stereotypical characters. However, when I watched it, I was pleasantly surprised.

The story is a multiple-story, running parallel, which connect together in the end (Isn't that also the rage nowadays?). You have the sweet love story of Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali, the loveless marriage of Shilpa and Kay Kay, the unspoken love of Sharman for Kangana, the love affairs of Shilpa with Shiney, and Kay Kay with Kangan in addition to the unexpected love story between Irfan & Konkaana.

In spite of this somewhat complex character list, the Director has managed to make it an integrated story, which runs well. This is the strength of the movie. Before the climax, you don't have a single cliché dialogue or scene.

You have such a strong star cast, that they leave you spellbound in spite of the weak character development. Shiney plays a theatre actor, and he has one particular scene, where is giving a theatrical soliloquy on stage. This scene could have easily gone downhill with hamming, but Shiney manages to use just the right amount of control, that it appears to be something that would have been said on stage, but not hammed out. Kay Kay once again shows his immense talent and skill, as a husband in a love-less marriage. There is this scene where he confesses his affair and begs for forgiveness, only to hear Shilpa confess hers as well. You can feel the confusion in his mind, as he goes from the sorry one, to one wronged. Only He could play the chauvinist husband -who feels that his indiscretion should be forgiven while his wife's peccadillo is unpardonable- with such calm and total believability. His one movement of hands shows his entire state of mind.

Then you have these great actors: Konkaana and Irfan. They might have very few scenes, but when they meet, you can see the magic. Irfan has maybe 5-6 scenes, but he performs so well, that it is his dialogues that you remember. If lesser actors had been used, then the film would have surely failed. Sharman manages to do well with his limited character, and Kangana has once again to play the depressed and weak character that she has played in all her movies so far. The characters are one dimensional, but the actors playing them play them with so much gusto that we get a sniff of what they could be. I don't know why film-maker still think that character development means showing the audience what the character's life long ambition is.

This movie is more rooted in reality then the recent 'Metro' movies like Delhi heights and Ek Chalis ki local. Here Mumbai permeates ever scene, unlike Delhi heights, which could have been based anywhere in spite of the name. Now, I know I am a Mumbai-expert, but I can recognise every public place shown in the movie, be it the footpath outside Britannia, or the platform on Khoparkhairane. It is beautifully shot, with wide camera shorts that span, the entire scene, that make you feel as if you are there. The rain is also beautifully used in a number of scenes.

Along the way, it successfully deals with several competing emotions like, life ambitions, jealousy, Boredom, fear of society, lust, passion and loyalty. Now that is a very wide range, and maybe that is why the tagline of the movie is One city. Countless emotions.

Another thing I liked is the way the songs are pictureised. You don't have the usual song and dance routine by the characters. Now don't get me wrong, I love that a lot. I can't put into words how much I enjoyed the songs from 'Aap ka Surror'. Here whenever there is a song, the singers magically appear in the frame, behind, in the background to the main characters. It is a sort of magical surrealistic feeling to see them appear suddenly, and sing songs while the characters go on with their lives, but somehow I like it a lot.

After seeing this movie, a friend's sister had sent out a questionnaire, from which I'll like to quote:

hey everyone…last night I saw the movie “life in a metro” n was i glad i did..(hey! this is not a film review..it's better than that..) those of u who've seen the movie will agree with me that this film is nothing of the unforgettable or 'the one u take home' sorts..but something during the course of the movie really made me sit up and take notice of it (besides irfaan's performance tht is!) which is, that I could see almost everybody, and i mean everybody, stare at a reflection of themselves on d screen…and on not just one, but many occasions…The reality or rather the “familiarity” of the plot was just too strong to ignore and the next thing I knew, I was crafting this questionnaire to see how many of us could relate to the movie and in what way. The movie is definitely not a straight "A" but it does leave one with a strong aftertaste of the sex-driven, slick n fast-paced life we all call metro..the kind of life that we’re all subjected to..the kind of life that we’re all invariably bound to..and it was the realisation of this immense "common factor".......

Overall, I'll say it is a good film, definitely something I'll watch again.