Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola (2013)

Now thats a crazy title if I ever heard one.And it does not make sense. Harry Mandola is a rich, hard drinking businessman played by Pankaj Kapoor(shades of Ponty Chaddha?), Bijlee is his vivacious daughter played by Anushkha Sharma and Matru(Imran Khan) is his servant/driver/man Friday/drinking buddy.That's the basic set up.As we get introduced to the dramatis personae the befuddlement grows.The film does not make any sense either, it looks like a silly vehicle trying to set up yet another improbable love story between the driver and the heiress, with a bit of Haryanvi rambunctiousness and cusses thrown in for good measure.

But no, the director is Vishal Bhardwaj, one of India's most talented filmmakers, who is not content to drape his heroines in chiffon saris and take them on a trip to the Swiss Alps.Instead he is a literary minded man and a music maker to boot.In Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola( hereafter MKBKM..now that sounds like the abbreviation of a rude phrase but we will let it rest there) he creates a big mess.But I swear on the soul of Arvind Kejriwal, its a beautiful mess.This film must have been scripted in 2011 when the country was swaying to the anarchic tunes of Anna Hazare who held the parliament and the country hostage with his nearly demagogic harangues against corruption. Mr Bhardwaj did not take the self righteous route of making a new version of Rang De Basanti,which to its credit, anticipated the need for a popular citizens movement much before Mr Hazare started frothing at the mouth.Instead he realised the absurdity of the drama unfolding at Jantar Mantar. This film is his conviction, which I share, that India is not ready for its moment in the revolution calendar, which has red letter days spread out far more pragmatically then our impatient news channels would like.

In the unremarkable set of the three title characters he throws in an ambitious politician Chaudhari Devi,who played by Shabana Azmi, modelled externally perhaps on the Mayawati's of the world but at heart our dear Italian Godmother, keeps the chair warm for her feckless son, Baadal (Arya Babbar).Dark clouds are indeed gathering over our country, when the prince ascends the throne. Chaudhari Devi is in bed with Mandola, he will develop a vast agricultural land which he will bamboozle the farmers into relinquishing and which the good minister will convert into a SEZ. Bijlee will become the Catharine of Braganza whose dowry must be a great piece of real estate like the city of Bombay itself.Only now the Haryana hinterland is more priceless property, in close proximity to a money power saturated Delhi, and this is where the film is set.

Matru leads a double life, he is a closet Maoist, and is inciting the farmers into a revolt against the brazen land grab.The old men of Haryana have become stereotyped as the guys who locate the cause for rape in chow mien but here they seem like pretty normal folks, with a sense of humour laced with language deeply but innocently misogynistic. Perhaps this is the worst chow mien does, make you mouth Mother/Sister obscenities. Mr Bhardwaj used this to great comic effect but that's not the whole point, as it was in that Bose DK film.

That Mao is the hero of the farmers is the point.History has made it amply clear that Chairman Mao was probably the most ruthless autocrat ever, it's his misty ideology that continues to fuel a million misguided mutinies thats really funny.A happy ending is achieved with great help from a shocking pink buffalo which first appears as a CG

Fmovies: I am pretty sure you know what the story is, so I won't strain on that! Well, it is typical and a lot of movies have been made in the same line of land acquisition and dirty politics - in all languages perhaps!

MkBkM is a musical odyssey of great performances by the whole crew except the writer. Lead actors are solid - Kapur, Khan & Sharma are great and perfectly monetize their characters. Kapur's character is like a villain that you love. Shabana Azmi portrays her stellar performance and I appreciate that!

Editing, screenplay is good; direction is the usual Vishal Bhardwaj and music is punchy yet enjoyable. I won't spill the beans about the pink cow, because you need to watch it to enjoy and take pleasure.

What works and supposedly will in the box office is it's catchy screenplay full of the Bollywood masala which was lacking in most of the 100 crore worth films of 2012. It is definitely not boring a movie to pay 300 bucks for. I am pretty sure you won't be disappointed by the performances, but the clichéd story might dull you!

After Table No. 21, I would not totally recommend to watch this but you won't complain as it is a VB movie (7KhhonM, Omkara) and not Dabangg 3!

Bottom Line: Watch it because it has and will give you a kickstart in this 3 day holiday weekend! But MkBkM is not pure filmaking. As we all are irritatingly bored by 2012's greatly depressing masala-item dance movies, 2013 is time for some enjoyment!

WATCH OUT FOR: Pankaj Kapur!

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Language: Mild | Sex: No | Nudity: Very mild | Violence: Mild | Mouth- Kiss: Yes | Foreplay: Yes | Drugs: Implied | Alcohol: Strong | Smoking: Mild

after a long time a Hindi movie that actually makes sense.. takes almost every problem being faced by rural India at the moment and brings it out to the front in a form of a slap.. which turns into a smile.. only who have seen the whole movie will know what i am talking about.. do watch this movie if you enjoy the regular character building style of vishal bhardwaj.. heaps of laughing moments in the movie.. pankaj kapoor's acting is absolutely brilliant.. at one moment i thought he actually does get drunk every time the drunkard scenes are there.. songs are fit perfectly.. could have been made into a much commercial movie.. but vishal bhardwaj knows how to create that little margin between the art and total rubbish commercial bollywood.. stays right up there with all other brilliant movies made by VB productions..

Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola fmovies. So the most crowd pleasing title Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola having a distinctive casting, offbeat music and the film which grabbed most of the attention towards, Vishal Bhardwaj after his terrible 7 Khoon Maaf returns with this original story of MKBKM. Bhardwaj has always tried to be original towards his plot, think of Kaminey where the film worked with critics along with the masses too. Bhardwaj is a kind of director who gets adjusted to his surroundings vividly. Bhardwaj's music is unique having a typical title track, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola starring Imran Khan ( Matru ), Anushka Sharma ( Bijlee ) and Pankaj Kapoor ( Mandola ). Though this casting is different from anyone's point of view but worked brilliantly at this piece of cinema.

The plot displays unrefined rural locales of Haryana where a kinky, odd industrialist Harry Mandola ( Pankaj Kapoor ). The village is named after his surname Mandola. He himself, known as Mandola most oftenly, is a personality with acuteness in his thinking regarding money, serious, cunning and slick. Mandola wanted his area to be announced as an economic ward obliged to which he forces the native residents who had their farmlands, to sell and leave the village. But Politician Chaudhari Devi ( Shabana Azmi ) who appeals him into thwarting off the villagers. Mandola's MONEY while Chaudhari Devi's POWER can only unite when their offspring's get married to each other. In the midst of all, Mandola's Man Friday Matru ( Imran Khan ) who has nothing to do with these situations enters them, tends to bring some drastic change against land extortion and defends the villagers.

The scenery is captured beautifully, though it is unrefined, raw but that's the beauty of this film. Bhardwaj puts the best comical scenes between the breathtaking star Pankaj Kapoor and Imran Khan, who just sets the cinema on the right track. Imran Khan gets the mood for watching such a type of genre while Pankaj traps everyone in his histrionics. The Director then ( itself in the first half ) tries to bring a mysterious character Gulabi Bhains ( Mao ) but the balloon burst right before the interval leaving nothing to forecast in the second half. Practicality is what Vishal Bhardwaj tends to assure in 'Matri Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola' and it forces him to choose for a midway which was more apt towards deep red before pink. The abusive manner doesn't consent an impact pretty much like the odd and unusual presence of Gulabi bains (Buffalo). The song 'Jiski kheti uski zameen, hatt lootne wale' conjointly imitates the same emotions.

All in all to be a Vishal Bhardwaj's film you expect some twists in the second half but the plot is empty making everyone go predictably right and have a banausic continuity. The man who stands alone in the film is Pankaj Kapoor with his stupendous drama. He just fills the glass which was emptied by the storyline to the way it had to be. Pankaj Kapoor's drama win right from the very first shot where he is in his drunken amazement scowling some Haryanvi dialogues. Shabana Azmi gets an easy role but stills does as if she has somnambulism problem.Anushka is good, peppy and cheerful.

Pankaj Kapoor saves this film with his acclaimed acting but still Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola departs you displeasedly. In all the second half is sluggish and most foreseeable without any twist and turns.

Its a Shakespearean story set in rural India. If you know rural India have lived there, you would feel attached to the movie.This movie is not for urban people who don't know (and don't give a damn) about how things work in rural India.

PANKAJ KAPOOR should have won awards for this movie and for first time i actually liked IMRAN KHAN's work. SHABANA AZAMI too is incredible.

Script is USP of the movie and screenplay is brilliant...although ending was a bit longer than it should have been. Overall,the movie should have been supported more by viewers and critics.

I would give it 8/10.

Vishal Bharadwaj serves you "Mr. Pankaj Kapur on the rocks!"

'A twisted title, Limousine in gehu ke fields, African Zulu tribes, Pink buffalo called gulabbo, Politician sucking a lollipop in fields, Mao Tse-tung's (Maoism wala) desi avatar, UFO in a village?' Yes, this Vishal Bharadwaj film has more bizarre elements than you can ever think of !

MKBKM is one hell of a ride - from crazy, absurd, wacky, bizarre to... social, political, addressing some of the pertinent issues faced by our nation. Here you have one of the greatest actors of India in his elements, with his dual act of - caring, sensitive drunkard 'Hariya' and, a stern, selfish & staunch capitalist 'Harry'. Only actor of his caliber can carry-off such role with aplomb (he is teetotaler in real life). Please, hand over all the awards of 2013 to Mr Pankaj Kapur for his exceptional performance!

Director Vishal Bharadwaj has his own eccentric ways of making social commentary with issues such as SEZ (Special Economic Zones), land grabbing, capitalism, Maoism, corruption, honor killing, lokpal, media and what not! At one point, Bharadwaj doesn't even think twice before taking actual names of politicians -- from Sheila Dixit, to Rahul-s, Varun-s, Scindia-s of Congress as political heirs of successful politicians. It takes some time and effort from our side to get acquainted to this Haryanvi setup and accent...but if you start getting Bharadwaj's references and quirky dialogues, you are into this exhilarating mad-cap ride.

Imraan Khan as 'Matru' does well with whatever he can do with his limited acting capabilities. Anushka Sharma is effective, but she is getting typecast in these type of roles. Shabana Azmi is excellent in her sly and manipulating political avatar. Arya Babbar does well as Azmi's dimwit son.

There are many memorable scenes which only director like Vishal Bharadwaj can think of -- that hilarious fight between Matru and Mandola during "well" scene, Mandola riding a plane after getting drunk, Azmi's monologue about 'progressive' nation called India (over ages), the scene between Mandola and Azmi just before the rain arrives, Mandola telling 'Mao' - tu "left" wala bottle le, or the love story involving something as banal as "tooth-brush".

In some cases, Bharadwaj tends to go overboard especially towards the climax sequence and some of Imraan-Anushka's scenes are simply annoying. Sometimes, the film gets repetitive with street theater (natak) type execution.

Music: Vishal-Gulzar combo for music is delicious as always. It takes the film one notch higher. You get to hear samples of African and Haryanvi folk music in some of the songs. My picks from the album - Khamakhan, Badal uthiyan, Oye boy Charlie, title song.

Verdict: Overall, the film is as twisted as its title. So, watch it if you can digest this genre/Vishal Bharadwaj's films......otherwise you might walk out of cinema hall during the show, like some did where I watched the movie.

P.S. Pankaj Kapur is God of acting.