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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD HINDI MEDIUM
EDITOR'S PICK
'Hindi Medium': 'Hindi Medium'
has the potential to crack the 'Baahubali' code (Review By Subhash K
Jha ; Rating: **** 1/2)
Irrfan Khan was last seen taking on corrupt forces in "Madaari". He is
back, this time to question the educational system in our country
whereby children are inducted into posh English-medium schools only
after a ridiculous amount of time, money and energy are invested into
ensuring the child's future.
Irrfan + Social Issue, bound to work. He is known to be a thinking
actor with very definite views of politics and culture.
The trauma that parents face is here alchemised into something
smile-inducing and heart-warming, something quite magical in its
ability to hit us where it hurts the most without damaging our sense of
self-worth. Not that director Saket Choudhary trivialises the pain of
parenting as it crosses the hurdles of schooling protocol.
Saket's earlier two films -- the delightful "Pyar Ke Side Effects" and
the equally delightful follow-up "Shaadi Ke Side Effects" -- revealed a
mature though not a self-conscious pamphleteering social commentator
with his finger firmly on the pulse of contemporary issues. If Saket
could make Mallika Sherawat remove her lingerie on screen without
making us flinch, he could also get away with Vidya Balan trying to
pass off her husband's child as her lover's just to get even.
To his credit, in "Hindi Medium" director Saket Chowdhary does not
allow proceedings to get preachy screechy or downright hysterical. Most
issue-based films can't help lecturing down on the audience. Saket
eases you into the life of a terribly endearing couple -- lovable with
all their whims excesses and fancies -- played by Irrfan Khan and Saba
Qamar. Together, Irrfan and Saba make the couple's journey through the
amazing contradiction and anomalies of the schooling system look not
only credible and real but also very engaging. The writing is
sharp-witted and the verbal exchanges are topped with an extra layer of
spice just to drive in the point.
Irrfan looks so married to Saba it is not funny. His sexual cravings
and his ceaseless adoration of a wife who is often unreasonable,
stubborn and manipulative, are remarkably subdued yet savage. The way
he picks on her words to get his way in an argument, or inversely the
way she manipulates his thoughts and words to her own advantage are
lingering evidence of some slyly skilled writing that secretes wisdom
about marital tricks that couples play on one another -- not to betray
or cheat on the spouse but just to keep the spirits high in marriage.
And watch out for the grossly underused monstrously talented Deepal
Dobriyal. His turn as an economically challenged but forever cheerful
parent would make the most frosty heart melt.
Ditto the film. "Hindi Medium" is never weighed down by tedium. It
breezes through a difficult satirical terrain with a nose for the
sunnier side of everyday drudgery.
It would be unfair to reveal more in this astutely woven yarn on the
adventures of a rather wise child's parents in gyan-dom. Suffice it to
say, director Saket Choudhary is all through on firm ground as he
negotiates his way through the contradictory pulls and pushes of an
education system that fosters duplicity and encourages complicity with
corrupt elements.
The incidents and anecdotes fill up the spaces not just in the
narrative but also in the audiences' hearts.
While Irrfan is in fine fettle, making light of and shining bright on
what is essentially a very serious social issue,and displaying comic
timing that Govinda would envy (if only he was around to envy anyone),
Saba Qamar succeeds in being her very accomplished co-star's support
system without sweating it out in the dramatic scenes. But her presence
is not as bankable as one expected. Nonetheless, she holds her place in
front of the bang-on Khan. And that's saying a lot.
Among the female actors, it's the neglected Tillotama Shome who shines
as a school-admission counsellor. Her attitude of superciliousness
towards the couple from Chandni Chowk, who have migrated to Vasant
Vihar to seem elitist, is deliciously vituperative. But Amrita Singh as
an evil school principal hyperventilates through a sketchy role.
Also, while we are on the female characters, why is the actress Swati
Das playing Deepak Dobriyal's wife pasted with black polish? Isn't this
stereotyping of the poor as dark-skinned out of character in a film
that successfully demolishes many sacred cows and wholeheartedly
questions the imbalances in our social and educational system with a
hefty dose of humanism and humour?
Hindi Medium is a well-told parable of middle-class aspirations,
scattered with moments that every parents would recognize with a
combination of pleasure and dread. It is a solid weekend entertainer
with a message for every parent who has ever suffered the traumatic
jitters of preparing to get a child admitted into school.
"Hindi Medium" has balls and long legs. Should go a long way.
Bollywood producer and T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar, whose films "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety" and "Raid" have drawn audiences this year, says a good story will always get footfalls.Last year, the banner had successful films like "Hindi Medium" and "Tumhaari Sulu". This year, "Hindi Medium" released in China to a huge response, and both "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety" and "Raid" have collections that have surpassed the Rs 100 crore mark, read a statement.Read More
'Daas Dev' to now release on April 20Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra says "Daas Dev" will now release on April 20 as the film's distributors didn't want the movie to compete with Ajay Devgn's "Raid" or with Tiger Shroff's "Baaghi 2".Mishra spoke on the sidelines of the NEWS18 Reel Awards here on Tuesday. Read More
