“In Bollywood, like in politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies”
This quote, mentioned by one of the characters in the movie, could well apply to the general lifestyles of the rich and famous. Madhur Bhandarkar presents a hard-hitting, if laced with glamour, glitz and chutzpah, look at the underbelly of Mumbai’s socialite hangouts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------
Though not a party animal myself, I thought that I had acquired a fairly good impression about the shallowness of the life lead by these social circuit hanger-ons. But despite being more or less prepared for the twists, I must confess that Bhandarkar was able to provide some shocks, which came as quite a surprise.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------
The circus of the party animals is seen through the eyes of Madhavi Sharma (Konkana Sen), an intuitively righteous reporter on the Page 3 beat with “The Nation Today”, as she mechanically surveys and professionally meets the requirements of her job. The irony of her existence is clearly seen from the dingy apartment that she shares with two other flatmates and the second class railway bogie she travels home back from the parties that she frequents. And this is a stark contrast to the filthy rich socialites who humour her only for the publicity she could provide them with through her columns.
But the film is full of such ironies and hypocrisy and some devastatingly shocking revelations. It could easily lead to an idealist getting disillusioned with the flippancy of lifestyles.
Some samples:
1) A divorced lady tagging her young son along at parties, sleeps around with men younger than her own son.
2) A business tycoon neglects his wife who seeks solace in her orphanage work, while she senses that she is losing control over their daughter’s behaviour. Later she commits suicide, the reason being, as is revealed later, that her husband is actually a paedophile.
3) The editor, although supportive of Madhavi, has his constraints and keeps avoiding inconvienent stories from getting published.
4) Madhavi’s gay makeupman friend (Rehaan Engineer) who also doubles up as a model co-ordinator ends up “cast-couching” Madhavi’s boyfriend, who is a model seeking work.
5) Socialites arrive at a funeral in their designer white attire and discuss the next few happening parties lined up, after they are done with shedding their crocodile tears.
6) Madhavi’s flatmate, Gayatri (Tara Sharma) a struggling starlet, has to undergo the casting couch reluctantly. When she gets pregnant and attempts suicide, she decides to quit and leave the city. But in the end, we find her having returned back and compromising with gusto.
7) Madhavi who is slowly getting disillusioned with the shallowness of the party scene requests for a change of department and gets allotted the crime beat with fellow reporter, Vinayak Mane (Atul Kulkarni). Within the first few days, she is witness to a bomb blast in the city. That same evening, she has to replace the regular Page 3 reporter for a party, where she finds the police commissioner, a regular party animal, enjoying a few drinks and gives him a piece of her mind.
8) The same party animals who used to humour Madhavi when she was regular Page 3 columnist, give her the cold shoulder when she changes her focus to the crime pages.
9) Once, on her own, she manages to come up with a daring scoop on a paedophile racket and ends up catching a rich celebrity red-handed. But her editor, pressurized by the Newspaper owner, instead of applauding her, reluctantly gives her the termination letter and her story is withheld and evidence destroyed.
10) On a parallel track, Madhavi’s other flatmate Pearl (Sandhya Mridul), tired of leading an airhostess’ life, gets married to a much older divorcee NRI only for his money.
Direction:
Madhur Bhandarkar manages to pack in many small stories into a compact script without muddling the viewers attention. The seriousness of the subject is laced in humour which ranges from the loud to the subtle.
On the one hand, we have the gutter language of the chauffeurs gossiping outside the hotels about their respective sahibs. There is also the subtle humour of two professional gatecrashers, who get themselves photographed with the host. We also have Bobby Darling (who plays a transvestite designer) with his own brand of humour. Sample this: Bobby Darling to Rehaan Engineer who bumps into him at the party – “Hows my make-up?”. Rehaan, giving him a disdainful look replies, “Too loud”!.
There is also heavy sarcasm as Madhavi, in the end, on spotting Rehaan with his latest model friend, warns him – “Next time, lock the door”.
Performances:
Konkana Sen brings her girl-next-door charm and natural earnestness to the role of Madhavi. Watch her reactions as she slowly absorbs the discovery of her boyfriend’s gay fling with her best friend – or at the bomb blast site – or as she reconciles with her new job as (once again) a Page 3 reporter. She’s brilliant, which proves that Mrs. Iyer was no flash-in-the-pan!
Sandhya Mridul as the hard-boiled and sharp-tongued Pearl is superb. Tara Sharma has to urgently work on her horrible diction. Atul Kulkarni as the crime reporter Vinayak Mane, as well as the actor who plays the role of the police inspector are impressive.
Boman Irani as Deepak Suri, Madhavi’s boss, is endearing. Bikram Saluja as the actor who beds the aspiring starlet looks uncomfortable. Jai Kalra as Madhavi’s boyfriend makes a nice debut and Rehaan Engineer passes muster. Other bankable stage and TV actors like Sonie Razdan, Suchitra Pillai, Bobby Darling, Maya Alagh, Dolly Thakore etc. play smaller roles forming the glitterati.
Music:
The music by Shamir Tandon is pleasant but strictly functional. If there is one song which remains with you, it is “Kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahan par” sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the background. For those who are fed up of listening to the aged Lata’s shrill and tired voice, this is a welcome change as she sings the entire song in the lower pitch which makes you nostalgic of the golden era. The lyrics too are apt for the subject.
The other notable song is “Huzoor-e-ala” by sister Asha Bhosle, who exudes her patent oomph and sensuality. The rest of the numbers are forgettable.
Finally,
There could be a number of flaws in the film, but it does come across as a sincere attempt at unmasking the underbelly of the glitzy lifestyle of the rich and the famous. The subject is quite different from Bhandarkar’s earlier work and the subplots with its actors are many. Hence while to some, it may appear to have a superficial feel, but given the constraints, this is an accomplishment which deserves applause.
Take-aways:
Vinayak Mane’s words of wisdom to a sacked Madhavi:
“You have to change the system by being part of the system”
