MADRAS CAFE

Madras Cafe comes as a great relief to someone who dreads Hindi movies because of the songs (that all sound the same) and the million wailing violins that wash over the tragic hero hamming his
way through a moment of pathos. Why, the new movie directed by Shoojit Sircar doesn't even have a romance between the two hunkiest people in the movie, nor - praise the Lord- between the glamorous journalist and he subject, the rebel leader. First the actors. Beefy John Abraham does himself
a favor by making no attempt to act. Instead, he sticks to what he's best at - looking fit, tanned and leaping around with guns - and ends up both credible and likeable.
Though I have yet to figure out why a 'British' journalist has an American accent, that's an insignificant piece of trivia to hold against the young and lovely Ms Nargis Fakhri, who does a fairly good job of what she is required to do.
And yes, yes, I confess I know these gentlemen but they really are the best: Siddhartha Basu and Avijit Dutt who play South Block to perfection. Dibang, the excellent TV anchor gets in a neat cameo too.
Now come the parts that were hard, at least for me. The hardest was squinting my eyes and trying to train myself to accept Kerala as the Jaffna peninsula and the Wanni. Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Cafe starring John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri is not just another typical Bollywood masala flick but is a thought provoking, heart touching political drama. It’s a film that will keep you and your eyes glued to the seat and the screen, effortlessly. Sircar has given meaty roles to all his characters and not just the leads. The opening scene of Madras Cafe showcases khoon kharaba and merciless killing of innocent people. The scene then effectively
moves on to the present where we see John in despair trying to overcome his sorrows with
alcohol. Our hunkalicious drunken John Abraham (Vikram Singh) then visits a church
where he recalls the blood-curdling tales of the Lankan wars and then the flashback begins.
From here, the film takes us back to the 1980’s and is set against the backdrop of Sri
Lankan wars.

However we also have Nargis Fakhri in an ill-defined role of a war journalist, who grimly tells
Vikram: “They know your first move before you even implement it”. Throughout the film, she
speaks in English and he replies in Hindi, which makes for clumsy conversation. And yet, Madras Café works as an effective portrait of the futility of war. Shoojit and his
writers, Shubhendu Bhattacharya and Somnath Dey, ably illustrate why there are no winners
here. Ideologies are marred by corruption and brutality. Death is inevitable and victories,
pyrrhic. A special mention here of John Abraham, who stretches himself as both actor
and producer. He does a commendable job. As does Prakash Belawadi, who plays Vikram’s
hard-drinking superior. And cinematographer Kamaljeet Negi, whose camera gives the film
scale and heft. Shantanu Moitra’s unobtrusive music underlines the tragedy.
Madras Café is flawed but ambitious and brave. I recommend you make time for it.