Life in a Metro

**Life in a... Metro**

**PLOT: \*\*\*\*\***

**PERFORMANCE: \*\*\*\*\***

**MUSIC: \*\*\*\*\***

**CINEMATOGRAPHY: \*\*\*\*\***

it features an [ensemble cast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensemble_cast) of [Dharmendra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmendra), [++Nafisa Ali++](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nafisa_Ali), [Shilpa Shetty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilpa_Shetty), [Kay Kay Menon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Kay_Menon), [Shiney Ahuja](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiney_Ahuja), [Irrfan Khan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrfan_Khan), [Konkona Sen Sharma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konkona_Sen_Sharma), [Kangana Ranaut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangana_Ranaut), and [Sharman Joshi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharman_Joshi) in lead roles.

Review by Dr Usman Latif Khawaja

**Cool chics in a very cool flick**

This redeems bollywood of its nefarious crimes of the last years or so as the movie crackles with wit and intelligence to pack in a quartet of modern day relationships in mumbais rain drenched metro lovingly shot in dinghy call centres, high rise flats and local trains and buses as the excellent cast is helmed by ANURAG BASU .

Its characters are inhabited by real people who err and commit adultery, lie and cheat yet remain optimistic at heart with its dark undertones giving way to a bright future as the multilayered plot evolves AND smashes all previous bollywood stereotypes with a hard hitting realistic but engrossing human drama

I was extremely delighted  to see nafeesa ali and dharamendra play an extremely dignified old couple reunited after 40 years while her nieces, shika \[shilpa shetty\]struggles with her loveless and shambling marriage with  **kk menon** who is cheating on her with his secretary\*\*\[kangna \]\*\* since  2 years without her knowledge and the younger daughter shruti **\[konkona**  \]who is husband hunting as a coy, bespectacled working girl in an  agency infested  with closeted homosexuals .

She hilariously rejects **irfan khan** on a blind date in the very beginning as she describes him as an xray machine who oggles women through their clothing and  who is worse then a dog, but is framed as a coverup by her boss who uses her as a soft target to cover his gay affair with an office colleague .

But these women are free and they rebel while shilpa falls truly in love with a wannabe actor **shiney ahuja** and rejects her cheating husband by confronting him with the truth that she can still make more money then him as well as sleep around though she does it more out of desperation then need and her self loathing is very touching as she runs away from shiney after the adultery utterring the words im a slu.

we move into a new revolutionary india which bollywood is treading for the first time, where the women are normal rather then madeout role models or caricatures and follow their hearts rather then the social dictates .

From the bumbling loving simlpeton irfan who tells shruti he is 38 but still a virgin to the innocent  shruti asking elder sister shilpa if its ok for a girl to lose her virginity before marriage, this is ground breaking cinema at its best without any doubt as you get dialogues which can easily become quotations .

Ingenious  superlative soundtrack without any lipsync  with the actual band \[PRITAM AND BUDDIES\]singing to express the characters feeling PAR EXCeLLENCE according to the mood is as innovative and effective as the shruti character telling her gay boyfriend to go to hell as she catches him in bed with another man as is the dark brooding atmosphere of the movie itself .

Yet **dharmendra and irfan** make up for the bad guys with their sincere but grey characters who are selfish but humane and caring, and dharmendra in a 20 minute role has come up with an act amitab couldnt come up with his last 20 movies .he tells nafeesa who he left waiting for him at a train station, 20 years ago that  he is the pacific salmon come home to die in peace .

The truth is poignant but beautiful and the susequent chemistry between the junoon girl and dharam is almost spiritual, as they joyously ride bikes like teenagers and spoon feed each other to makeup for their lost love and time .

There is no dearth of adultresses here as  **kangna** , the exploited secretary who is menons sex toy is just marvellous too as she overdoses on phenyl after being told by her boss that she is no better than a a pro\*titute not even as good as a mistress as she gets all the perks she does for sleeping with him and shes using him rather than the other way round, the lines brilliantly utterred by a heartless menon who is devoid of any decency as the chauvinistic middleaged two timer which is a universal male talking to a woman who accuses him of using her.

Ironically  he is using his junior  managers\*\* salman joshis\*\*  flat for his extra marital affairs as he promises him promotions for the favour, its hilarious to see the keys to the apartment and the poor women being exchanged by the entire company, yet a  true observation , no one here is concerned about indian images but rather with humanity and the script totally avoids patronising its characters thus ennobling them rather then demeaning them, as bollywood comes of age truly and significantly .

The little touches of a box full of condoms lying in joshis flat and his neighbours commenting on the sexual moaning and groaning coming across the walls is an absolute delight yet so realistic to see in an indian movie .

The tone of the movie goes from its dark twilight lit scenes to the bright optimistic vivid colors of the optimistic ending with a hilarious chase as irfan in his bridal dress and horse chases shruti who declares to him in the middle of the wedding procession that despite his shortcomings she loves him, yet its gritty neon initial is very real as the mumbai monsoon pours down on the realistic characters who go about non chalantly with their corrupt lives in a matter of fact way as if money is everything but its their idealistic dreams which win your hearts in the end, never mind the route they take as we are all human indeed.

My favourite is  the dharam nafeesa part which will move you to tears as they spiritually kiss in bed before going to sleep together fully dressed and no words or images can express a man woman relationship better then this scene alone, but the subsequent tragedy brought tears to my cynical eyes as well

The performances are immaculate with shilpa beating all the other bollywood babes in some rivetting dramatic scenes as is konkona but I loved irfan khan who will totally win you over with his hilarious comic side which ive seen for the first time .

This movie erupts like a volcano with its tremendous script enriched with a million details with some extremely witty dialogues and a powerhouse of performances brilliantly observed through the dreamy lens of a real master storyteller.

A great manifesto for the future with style and humour comnbined with reality to give you goose pimples but  stun you with its non pretentious cerebral dynamic intellect which is totally indian but can make elia kazan look like an amateur .as this is a metropolitan movie that can be seen globally as all metros are the same whether tokyo or saopaolo but its the social commentary on indian morality and  evolving values that makes this a special event and others can learn from it too as its a true reflection of contemporary times .

Forget woody allen and his relatioships in newyork flicks, mumbai metro has landed with style and panache thanks to mr .basu



A must see