Much better than Padmashree!!. Review on Viruddh - Bollywood

With this movie, some things have changed and some things haven’t. Amitabh Bachchan was fighting for justice twenty yrs ago. As is now. If things wouldn’t work out legally he would take the law in his own hands. Again, as is now. Also, he would go scot-free. I repeat, as is now.

Like the family in this movie, the story is quite simple. Middle class, senior couple (Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore) who have sent their only son (John Abraham) to London for further studies. They while their time indulging in morning walks or taking naps or fighting with the new garage guy (Sanjay Dutt). John comes back to India and brings with him his live-in Brit girlfriend (Anusha). The parents approve and almost immediately they get married. After some happy scenes, John goes for a party with his friends, becomes a witness to a murder, interferes and gets killed. From here starts the second half. The family’s anguish, facing the false allegations that their son is involved in drugs, their faith in the judiciary and their attempts to get justice, and finally retribution.

Mahesh Manjrekar has depicted the middle class mindset to a T. The couple residing in Parle (E), going to Naturals for ice-cream, reading Maharashtra Times, their attitude towards live-in relationships and drinking. The first half is extremely light and actually funny. The lead couple is not completely lovey-dovey like the one in Baghban, but more natural with little skirmishes a part of the daily routine.

However, the second half gets a little sketchy. The last courtroom scene where Amitabh gets off after explaining everything is almost juvenile and a little naïve to think that any judge would actually condone a murder just because of justifiable reasons. Also, the numerous product placements throughout the movie are not only irritating but really tacky. The way Sanjay Dutt describes Elf oil’s benefits to one of his customers is actually like an ad and between an emotionally wrenched second half we come to know how fast Western Union’s service is. The movie, thankfully, doesn’t have any songs, but we get to hear Nerolac’s jingle and the incorporated can-banging.

The dialogues sound as if taken from a day-to-day conversation which I believe is one of the major plusses of the movie. With every movie, Amitabh is becoming more of a champion for the mostly neglected, senior section of the society. The performances by all are quite decent, although Sanjay Dutt was a little wasted in his minuscule role.

I have become a little jaded with sprawling mansions, exotic locales and candy floss stories. So, it’s quite refreshing to see cinema that I can relate with, without it being to ‘arty’.