Life in a...METRO
The movie took off brilliantly, showing the night life of a 'growing' metro, replete with the new-age culture of call centers, call girls, poeple mis-using influence and favors to advance careers.......All of this stark truth comes live right at the start of the movie. Till now, the camera angles are excellent, script looks crisply written with split-second shots depicting the fast pace of life in the metro. But after this, only the camera enthralls the audience, continuing with a brilliant portrayal of Mumbai's active night life. But script falls apart into predictable cliches and dialogs, the movie totally loses its pace......there is simply not much that would keep you glued to the screen. The protagonists just linger on to move to new relationships; there is no wit, no humor, no twists, just predictable drama around affairs being started and then caught. The unsuccessful married relationship was shown as a setup for the characters to mingle out, but the characters don't feel bad enough when the infidelities are revealed by both husband and wife (Shilpa-KK). A lot more punch was needed to show the ruthlessness of people favoring money and progress over emotions and relationships. I'd have put more scenes showing this, eg Sharman Joshi could have still given the keys, maybe in return for KK's job, even after knowing that his boss KK was sleeping with his sweetheart Kangana.
After greed has grown enough, emotions don't want to be left behind. But by then, the characters have already gotten entangled in a web of greed, lust and search for a new love, and cant get out without impunity. Climax is actually a letdown ..infact, its actually an anti-climax, going against the concept of 'opening the windows of your heart and let it free' that Anurag preached throughout the movie. He makes Shilpa close the windows of her heart and re-unite with Kay Kay, ala the favorite Hindi cinema ending....Music was pleasing only till the initial songs, but the repeated appearances of the trio screaming their throats out on roof tops and busy roads are not pleasant anymore. Kangana and Shiney deserve better roles. Their characters in Metro are half-baked and lack scenes that steal the movie.
The actor who needs a special mention is Irfaan Khan for his near-perfect comic timing and for playing an unmarried man in late 30s with ease, wit and humor. Wish Anurag had directed the entire movie like the Konkana-Irfaan track......remember Rang de Basanti worked because it blended a strong (social) message and a 2-gen plot with lightness, wit and humor.
Overall, Anurag's presentation super-cedes substance. (I wonder why directors worry more about shot angles and actress' glamour rather than the script itself.....film-making basics lacking?). The movie still stands just better than KJ's KANK & Salameishq (more because those two were even worse), but Anurag could have done much better with such a nice cast of actors and technicians.
-Sanjit
May 14, 2007, 11am, CA.
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