Political thrillers aren’t really Hindi movies’ favoured subject matter. Getting embroiled into unwanted hullabaloo — before or post release of the film — is not what a film-maker would want to get into. But Shoojit Sircar, who attempted a film on Kashmir [YAHAAN] and followed it up with a film on sperm donation and infertility [VICKY DONOR], gets into the serious zone yet again with MADRAS CAFE. An espionage thriller that’s set in India, Thailand, Singapore, U.K. and Sri Lanka.
So why a title like MADRAS CAFE for a film that talks of the assassination of our former Prime Minister? Well, that’s the cafe where the conspiracy was hatched, we’re told. Okay, now let’s move ahead…
The Hindi movie spectator has often been subjected to stories that depict the conflict with Pakistan, but Shoojit attempts to narrate a story that not many from the present generation would know — the civil war in Sri Lanka. What transpired in the 1980s and 1990s and how it impacted the political scenario of India has never been recreated in the Hindi film space. The conflict is diverse this time around and so is the territory. In short, enlightenment takes precedence over entertainment in this case.
Final word? MADRAS CAFE is one of the finest thrillers to come out of India. No two opinions on that!
An Indian Intelligence agent, Vikram [John Abraham], is assigned the task of going to Sri Lanka for a covert operation. As he embarks upon his journey, with the intention of disrupting a rebel group, he discovers the larger issue: A conspiracy to assassinate the former Indian Prime Minister.
Shoojit Sircar takes a historical actuality and along with screenplay writers Somnath Dey and Shubendu Bhattacharya weaves a captivating and compelling screenplay around it. He handles the sensitive subject matter with supreme care, prudence and sensitivity — without being biased or opinionated. He restructures the civil war in Sri Lanka with authenticity, portraying the rebels and diplomats and also depicting India’s involvement in the conflict that had ramifications on India. As a matter of fact, the storyteller tries to be as neutral as possible while narrating the tale and that’s what makes the effort so credible and convincing.
Shoojit comes to the point at the very start [the opening sequence of the film prepares you about what to expect, frankly!], enveloping a number of incidents and episodes that transpired during the bygone era. The danger, the vulnerability, the helplessness, the role of the Indian government, the politics and the conspiracies… Shoojit transports you into that milieu and environment with conviction. The sequences that lead to the hair-raising finale and the impactful winding up astonishes you beyond words.
What also needs to be highlighted is the fact that the Hindi movie spectator is used to a lot of spoon feeding, which discourages independent thought, but Shoojit abstains from indulging in it. The intention of the film-maker is very evident that the spectator form his/her own estimation, which seems most appropriate in this case. Additionally, Shoojit deserves brownie points for thinking beyond the stereotype, especially since he doesn’t repeat himself after the immensely successful and likeable VICKY DONOR.
The film is devoid of songs, except for the lone track that comes towards the conclusion, which is absolutely fine. The background score [Shantanu Moitra] is terrific. Shunning away from gravity-defying stunts, the action director also keeps the action as bona fide as possible. The DoP [Kamaljeet Negi] captures the ambiance and the picturesque locales splendidly. Dialogue [Juhi Chaturvedi] are intelligent, piercing and poignant.
John Abraham has often been labelled a director’s actor and Shoojit makes sure he doesn’t let the actor’s strong persona overpower the challenging opportunity of depicting a law protector. John too surrenders himself completely to the director’s vision and though he doesn’t play the conventional hero, he does make an earnest effort to look the part he’s portraying. Post ROCKSTAR, Nargis Fakhri gets yet another stellar role [of a war correspondent] and I must add, she takes rapid strides as an actor.
It’s a treat watching Siddhartha Basu [as Robin Dutt] in a challenging role. He’s fantastic. So is Dibang, who is damn impressive in a cameo. Prakash Belawadi [as Bala] is another actor who leaves a super impression. He’s first-rate. Ajay Ratnam [as Anna] gives a good account of himself. Raashi Khanna is efficient as John’s wife Ruby. Piyush Pandey is appropriate. Sanjay Gurbaxani as the former Prime Minister is apt. Kannan Arunachalam [as Shri] is perfect.
On the whole, MADRAS CAFE is an earnest and honest effort, a terrific thriller, with several poignant moments and episodes that leave a stunning impact. It’s a film that you should watch because it gives you an insight into an exceptionally pertinent episode of history. If you are in the frame of mind to watch superior quality, sensible cinema, I would strongly recommend MADRAS CAFE to you. Try not to miss it!
Rating: Four Stars
https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/criticreview/id/507435
Tags: John Abraham Madras Cafe Nargis Fakhri Reviews Shoojit Sircar Taran Adarsh
reviews have been good. TOI , indiatoday also have it at 4/5. Johns script sense can be trusted. we may have a good film here
Aniruddha Guha’s review 3.5 stars
https://www.timeoutmumbai.net/film/film-reviews/film-review-madras-cafe
I have been a strong advocate of John’s script sense for a long time now…The guy doesn’t have the acting chops but he compensates it with his will to make and be part of good movies.
John script sense may be trusted but John himself is not trusted at all. His presence is enough to make this a complete washout.
it is better to go wrong in doing a madras cafe than going right in a BG or RR
I have been a proponent of this for long time.
Well said Baba. Madras cafe looks interesting. You have to give it to John – he has been trying out some different films now and then in his career. Even utter disappointments like Jhootha Hi Sahi, Saaya, Paap and No SMoking had hatke concepts. It’s a different case that he cant act to save his life, but his risk-taking approach must be lauded. Of course, he continues to do drab stuff like Shootout or Desi Boyz or Housefull 2 or Race 2 to keep afloat in the industry.
If you are talking about someone like Irfan Khan or some commercially viable actor of his generation like Shahid Kapoor, then your statement is 100% true. For someone like John, doing prestigious projects means nothing, neither he is an an actor nor an entertainer. Simply, he is not capable of doing anything, however it may benefit him as a producer provided he keep himself away from on-screen.
Mate, I dont think anyone is disagreeing with you here when you say John isnt a great actor or crowd-puller. But you have to hand it to him for having the guts to take up diverse stuff like No Smoking, Madras Cafe, or even a 7 Khoon Maaf. None of these movies were commercially viable from the time they were launched. Again, he cant act to save his life, but at least he has the balls to do hatke stuff. Now one could argue he has to do whatever he is offered, but point is he IS offered such movies. So, somewhere he has given off the vibe of being interested in different movies. Whether he adds anything to them or benefits from them is another matter (answer is, probably, not much). If you compare that with someone like Shahid Kapoor or Imran, who may have better acting chops but who have been doing fluff all this while, barring a Kaminey or a Delhi Belly, John’s risk taking ability is much higher. Even when compared to an Akshay Kumar or a Sanjay Dutt or a Salman Khan, John has tried a lot more varied stuff, not as successfully of course. But he gets some points for trying!
Comparing him with Irfan Khan on any count is sacrilege btw. 🙂
The reason why I mentioned Shahid here is becasue I think, as an actor, what Shahid kapoor achieved with Kaminay, John can’t be able to get even by doing 10 more madras cafes, and If Shahid would have given such flicks with consistency with moderate success, having one or two commercial hits in between, he could be in a position to compete with the likes of Ranbir/ Hrithik. IMO If your own work is not appreciated then there is no reason to be associated with a prestigious project. Salman and Akshay know very well, what they are capable of, so they choose a way where they can deliver. But problem with John is that he can’t do any thing, he even don’t know how to deliver in his strongest department, he don’t know when and how to show his muscular physique, when audience is in a mood to see his chest, he remove his chaddi and showing them his ass. He can neither kill innocent people that can take him in limelight nor beat his girlfriend after leaving her unsatisfied post sex, he don’t have some extra teeth that are exposed every time he open his mouth and people entertain thinking him some Chimpanzee kind of creature. In short, there are many stars who can’t act but they have some other qualities to boast about, John is harmless in every department.
Most of the current superstars were and not known for their acting histrionics….and hindi popular cinema does not need that as a requirement anyways…… But John Abraham had aleays had the trappings of a superstar..(tall, dar, handsome, screen presence, dimpled smile tugh physique..one of the best and good crazy female fans and some male too)… it is just that he did not choose mass entertaining movies…by choice or otherwise…
This movie will be very, very interesting. I love such movies which have a political backdrop. This one with the assasination of a state head, and the Sri Lankan problem with the Abraham hulk seem to be great. And I have a great feeling that Nargis Fakhri is very beautiful looking and a star to watch out for…like Katrina Kaif she seems to have a certain aura that is very attractive…
So waiting to watch Soojit Sircar’s ‘Madras Cafe’….All the best to Abraham, Sircar, Fakhri….
J
I wudnt attempt to over-rate a guy whose next is supposedly a Dostana sequel … and SAW was a yawn-fest.
I think John shud concentrate on producing from here on. Shahid imo has a fair chance of a comeback considering his imminent lineup consisting of Santoshi, Prabhudeva, Dhulia and Bhardwaj films.
” The reason why I mentioned Shahid here is becasue I
think, as an actor, what Shahid kapoor achieved with
Kaminay, John can’t be able to get even by doing 10
more madras cafes, and If Shahid would have given
such flicks with consistency”
shahid achieve nothing in kaminey……..it was a bad movie even VB’s MKBKM was far better movie than kaminey……..
Wether any one want to believe or not john is still far ‘Better’ actor than shahid….
John in New york, Aashayein are above the whole career of shahid 😛
now coming to irfan while u can’t compare irfan with any other he is best character actor in the industry after Paresh rawal n Anupam kher……and it would be an insult to compare Them n acting with likes of john or any other lead actor..!!
the biggest plus point for John abraham is that is is smart,tall,well built n good looking if a ugly looking small chain smokers can become superstans then john has every chance to make it big..!! 😛
I really want Great Kali to make his bollywood debut, as he is more tall and well built than John. 😛
Anyway, Chain smoking is still better than chain disaster giving, coz chain smoking doesn’t harm anyone except the person himself, chain disaster giving is suffered by the paid public. And when people still come here to defend their favourite after his chain disaster giving, it means they cross every limit of chain besharming and chain beghairating. 😛
Mate u are an SRK fan Right????
Still u talking about Besharami……..that’s really weard 😛
“i have a doubt…..
I think @Aman don’t even know that
CE 1st week is of 7 days
while OUATIMD 1st week is 8 days..!!
so how on earth CE which acc. to this prediction is 80-85 cr after 1st weekend(4 days) will collect rest 30 cr from its 3 weekdays..???”
“CE will do $8-$10 m at overseas..!!”
“ok….no problem but remember u said that…..
so acc. to u EID weekend(4 days) will give 80 cr as predicted by Aman and next 4 days will give 35 cr+ ok…..can’t argue much about ur BUSINESS SENSE..!! 🙂
BTW what are ur expectation from CE 1st 2 days(Thursday and Friday) give breakdown of these 2 days(ur prediction)..??
bcoz acc. to me CE 1st day(not a holiday plus Ramadan factor) will be 16 cr max as YJHD(more popular with best duration Post IPL) was 19.5 cr..!!
“my friend i think 25 cr 1st day is what we call Fanism at its best …
so no point taking the case further…….all the best for CE..!!”
Weard..Besharami..Akki fans 😛 😀 😆
Madras Cafe Movie Review by Sukanya Verma
Madras Cafe deserves an audience
Madras Cafe is a swift, smart and serious study of an inglorious chapter of history, writes Sukanya Verma.
When done right, few combinations have the allure of fact meets fiction. The veracity of one pitched against the ingenuity of another can produce awe-inspiring results.
Though not entirely above faults, Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Cafe marries the two to direct an engaging political thriller about a fictional character’s experience against real events and references, namely Sri Lankan Civil War and the assassination of ex-Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.
This person, an Indian military officer Vikram Singh, played by co-producer John Abraham, is assigned by RAW chief, Robin Dutt (Siddharth Basu) to conduct covert operations in Sri Lankan city Jaffna. This is RAW. Use brains not muscle, Dutt tells him.
It’s a mantra Madras Cafe follows religiously steering clear of typically Bollywood brand of action even though there are several moments of heavy-duty gun-firing and aggression.
Once in war zone, Vikram reports to his superior Bala (Prakash Belawadi) and bumps into London-based war correspondent Jaya (Nargis Fakhri) before channeling his energy to track down the activities of LTA boss Anna Bhaskaran (Ajay Ratnam) and lure his political ally Shri (Kannan Arunachalam) to go against the former.
What follows is Vikram’s close encounter with gun-toting extremists who view themselves as revolutionaries and determining the dangerous conspiracy to kill an important Indian leader with a human bomb.
Told in flashback, Madras Cafe starts out a tad awkwardly with an unnaturally dishevelled John Abraham relating shocking episodes and expounding on the futility of violence.
His part Hindi, part English voice-over painstakingly explains the history of Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis, India’s intervention, the formation of LTA (modelled around Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam), the subsequent civil war and its death toll. The screen too is filled with visuals encapsulating a long, painful past within few minutes.
For about one hour, Madras Cafe, written by Somnath Dey and Shubendu Bhattacharya with Juhi Chaturvedi’s dialogues, concerns itself with build-up and laying out a complex network of inquiry, motives and ideology.
The *thriller* aspect of this political drama, dedicated to the events between mid 1980s to early 1990s, comes alive post-interval with its breakneck pace, crisp editing (Chandrashekhar Prajapati) and precise screenplay. All those knotted ends in the beginning now begin to unravel with fascinating ease.
Even when characters face personal setbacks, Madras Café doesn’t pause for melodrama. Sircar adopts a tone akin to Siddharth Basu’s demanding bureaucrat, there’s a clinical straightness to his glossy treatment (think Blood Diamond, Green Zone) of a highly volatile subject.
While I would have also loved qualities like sharp and sly, the restraint helps in concealing his leading actor’s dramatic limitations. As tempting it is to think what an Irrfan Khan or Abhay Deol would do in John Abraham’s role, I must compliment him on playing it solemn and fit.
The gorgeously shot (Kamaljeet Negi) Madras Cafe also benefits by not opting for the usual faces to play key supporting characters, lending its ambiance an air of novelty if not unpredictability. Ratnam, Arunachalam and Belwadi do a fairly convincing job while Basu appears comfortable in his new role.
Cannot say the same about journalist Dibang’s turn as a Bangkok residing informer. His self-conscious screen presence completely dilutes the gravity of his only scene.
Raashi Khanna doesn’t get a chance to flex her potential as John Abraham’s young wife unlike the other female actor in the film — Nargis Fakhri.
There’s bright and there’s pretend bright and the distinction comes through when she conducts an interview with a dreaded leader of a feared organization, which is devoid of any tension or edge, like say, Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se… While her dialogue delivery isn’t a problem given all her lines are in English, Fakhri’s conversations with John Abraham are unnecessarily jarring.
She speaks English, he responds in Hindi. Why such stinginess over subtitles? In any case, she lost me at ‘anyways.’
At its running time of two hours, ten minutes, Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Cafe is a swift, smart and serious study of an inglorious chapter of political history. It doesn’t take names but doesn’t hold back either. Even if it packs in classic stereotypes of this genre and the climax is something we all know and vividly remember, the horridness of it continues to startle.
After experiencing back-to-back idiocy on big screen, it’s refreshing to return to the theatres for a film that expects you to be educated, informed and attentive. Give it a chance, Madras Cafe deserves an audience.
Rating: Three and Half Stars
https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-madras-cafe-deserves-an-audience/20130823.htm
johns script sense priase have suddenly made some “irfan khan fans ” to appear from nowhere. they never wrote thier views on pst.anyway heres irrfan khan on MC
Irrfan Khan: “Madras caffe is volatile piece of indian history, it left me stunned.The director’s integrity shines like diamond. Torch bearer 4 our cinema. Outstanding film. Very moving. Congrats to the entire team! Go in numbers n make it a huge success .”
@Babaji
If you pointed out me, then I must tell you I’m not a fan of Irfan Khan, not at all. As an actor, I never find anything special about him. But over a period of time, he build a certain image about his acting prowess, and the kind of cinema he had been associated with, majority of us find his acting talent exceptional though I tend to disagree with them. For me, he is no different (Interms of acting range) from those few superstars who can act. In an interview about his experience working in Life Of Pi, when he was asked why not he portrayed younger Pi as he could do it easily, he replied that he adopted a certain method in each role but the makers don’t want a ‘typical’ Irfan, so they choose Suraj to avoid that ‘same’ feel in the whole movie. And that’s the thing those superstars are being criticized for, i-e being typical. I guarantee you, give a role like Paan Singh Tomar to one (not anyone 😉 ) of those Superstars, and he will teach Irfan how to act. Ok just leave it, my point was that a film like Madras Cafe may benefit Irfan’s already ‘illustrious’ career but it will not serve anything for John, as an actor. Lets assume Irfan as a lead actor of Madras Cafe, and if the movie fail to click amongst the audience, Irfan will not be affected as he is known for such prestigious disasters, but still he will get full marks to his ‘brilliant portray of the character’, the success of the movie will only add additional marks for him. But for John, the failure of the movie (that’s more likely as it looks like a complete washout) will affect his career badly that is already taking its last breathes, and the success of the movie will only cement the fact about his brilliant script sense and poor acting sense. 😛
i knew you were not a fan of irfan.its pretty obvious. it was a sarcasm.
i dont know why you are concerned with the perception of other ppl. if you dont consider irfan a great actor, then he is not a great actor for you.thats it.and hence he also cannot benefit if MC fails or works, atleast for you.anyone who has followed Johns films will agree that there is no doubt about his script sense. MC will add to his resume.he occassionaly does crap films but many of our top stars dont do a sensible film even occasionally 😉 regarding his acting, i think he was effective in dhoom, NY, race 2 etc but i liked him most in zinda. he completely ate sanjay dutt.there are a kind of roles that suit him.
I also liked him in Zinda, he was excellent in his role. In fact, I like him more in Dhoom series than HR.
Irfan’s comic timing is good. I think. Lightened up life in a metro a lot. The thing you’ve said about prestige and perception happens when people confuse a good movie to good performances. Difficult to distinguish the two. Reverse happens too. Actors get blamed for bad direction or bad script. As in case of Chandini Chowk to China. Akshay cant have done anything ti save the pathetic direction of Nikhil Advani. But Akshay gets blamed for the disastrous experience.
but akshay himself was terrible in CCTC. see his overacting in the training scenes especialy after he himself had requested to get trained as he was supposedly deeply disturbed by mithuns death. but when his training begins, he is doing his usual nonsense and making silly jokes.the climax is horrible. akshay trying to do a kung fu panda.
Agreed.The director can’t force Akshay to act as a buffoon. Thats the problem with Akshay..He never really understands big scripts..When he can sign a movie based on just the title..you can very well imagine, how little script sensibility he had to translate it on screen.
Now had it been a Manish Pandey type director, then he would have been able to extract a performance out of akshay, by telling him to exactly what was the director’s vision (I guess Akshay is really good at doing whats told) but a Nikhil Advani only made the things worse.
It was not only Akshay who had overacted. Everybody did. It all pointed that somethin was horribly wrong about the way the entire movie was presented.
I too think Akshay at best is a natural actor who cannot handle anything overtly intense and demanding histrionics. But this movie definitely not his fault.
@Baba – can you come online?
this one is for mate who was hoping for a washout for madras cafe
Madras Cafe Set To Emerge A HIT
Sunday 25th August 2013 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Madras Cafe showed a huge jump in business of 30% plus on Saturday as it collected around 6.75 crore nett. The film had huge jumps in Mumbai, Delhi/UP, East Punjab, West Bengal and Mysore while other circuits were also up but much less.
The trend on Saturday looks set to make the film a hit as a 30% plus jump means the film has very good chances to hold over the weekdays at multiplexes. the film is not so strong at single screens and smaller cities so the Sunday jump will not be as big as Saturday but the film will come out with a minimum 19 crore nett weekend.
This is a good result for the film and even though the budget is high for the genre it should now easily cover a huge chunk of it from theatrical revenue.
@Babaji
I don’t give a damn whether it become a hit or not. Even I never had any interest in any of Akki starrer and it’s BO fate. The reason why I followed the BO prospects of OUATIMD was Just to shed the misconception of some of his fanatics who tried to project him as one of the top stars of BW. Then why should I care about a person who is neither a star nor an actor. Mera bus ek hi funda hai, jo koi jahan bhi hai bus apni aukaat na bhoole. Aur jab koi apni aukaat bhool jata hai to yaad karwane k liye main hoon naa. 😛
But I don’t understand what’s your point here, I’ve no issues as such with John. That challenge was from KRK not by me. Infact I will be more than happy If MC becomes HIT and collect more than OUATIMD. Atleast we will have another weapon we can use at the right spot. 😉
you did claim that this will be washout. that was the reason for posting it. rest i am aware of your one -man faithfulness for srk.jaise shaam ki deewani meera, waise srk ki deewani aap 😉 why woudl you care for anyone else.
Watched Madras Cafe. Its totally a Director Film imo.
Now for me
Shimit Amin = Shoojit Sircar > Raju Hirani = Ashutosh Gowarikar and the rest follows
no doubts. shimit amin is the most versalile of the lot, followed by ashutosh tho i dont mind your ranking shoojit sircar is definitely a talent to look forward to.raju hirani is a one trick pony.
I am still not clear about Hirani. Waiting for him to come with something original (peekay) so that everything will be cleared.
Bored
SS manages his actors very well and is not overboard unlike many others (including Raju Hirani). Admire the way he controlled the newcomers of VD and Wooden faced actors of MC. Also watch out MC for his direction Prowess. Such clear Visions he has and implements it really well.
Shimit and Ashutosh are under-rated. Hirani is perhaps over-rated. Yet to watch Madras Cafe. But Vicky donor was nice, but no great shakes.
@ Mate
Who is Aman?
It seems some people who ridicule NG of what it has become..may actually want to be there than here.
I know exactly the person who is responsible for that. Thank God he rarely comes here, otherwise it would be the worst forum than NG>
@mate,
If Anjanpur685Miles asked who Aman was you should have just said he is a NG member and left it at that. There was no need to rant about someone who is not even here. I deleted your comment. Please don’t bring baggage from other forums here.
Got it Sir. I got emotional when Anjanpur685Miles ask me about a person I hated most. Anyway I’m really sorry for my previous comment.
I like fan wars. btw who is aman @mate? and why did you replied to ank with aman’s reply?
Those are Ank’s replies to Aman, in CE prediction thread (NG). I don’t put his name intentionally, I just want to show Ank his previous comments, and those were in reply to Aman’s comments, that’s why his name is also mentioned in his comments. By the way, he is no body (What actually he is, I properly explained in my previous comment that Sputnik sir deleted now. oops I forgot to save it in my word file that was one of my best :P) so just ignore him as it may give him a feel as he is some celebrity, If he somehow manage to read our comments here.
Did I miss anything? looking at some comments it seems as if there was one hell of a showdown here. Did Sputnik deleted all comments kya?
ok so all this was for just my one comment 😀 😀
Main khush hua…. 😆
BTW i didn’t noticed that reply by mate ….just searched it after seeing these comments talking about it..!!
______________
“It seems some people who ridicule NG of what it has become..may actually want to be there than here.”
Suprabh
hmmm…….for how long he is trying to be on NG….i was told by someone he tried it for more than 2-3 years n still not successful 😀 😀
________________
@FS did u liked Mental or Azaad as Salman khan next movie Title????
#seriousQuestion #MustAnswer
What the F*** you are talking about, I never tried to be part of NG, not even a single time. Why should I be the member of a bullshit forum full of loosers, whose moderator himself is a big looser. As usual you talk based on your assumptions just like for every Akki starrer, his fanatics imagine ‘potential blockbuster’ in their dreamland, and every time it eventually turn into a Disaster, and every time they return to the forums again to show how shameless they are. 😛
mate did any one named u…..
why u getting hyper as if u saw the wrinkled face of SRK ????
ya chor ki daadhi mein tinka??? 😛
@FS
Wrong thread 🙂
Btw, saw Madras Cafe?
@anjanpur – Couldn’t watch FDFS but tomorrow definitely
@ank – Who cares what the title is, Salman has signed a death note with that film. Now if you ask me about what i think abt the movie or its boxoffice prospectus then i have to answer with “if’s” and “but’s” just like akki fans do 😉
@mate – Thanks, I thought i missed a showdown 😛
oh crap…i was not expecting ‘if’ or ‘but’ instead thought u wud come up with ‘Being’ 🙁
madras cafe is one of the dumbest films i have seen in a long time. since the unimaginative documentary of a film (alaong the lines of swades, yuva etc) doesnt have any artistic merits i will focus on ridiculous cliches and factual inaccuracies.
1. a secret agent/ any professional, botching up an official job and becoming an alcoholc and a recluse. can a film open with a worse cliche? (he also grows a beard) i have seen this in 84529 hollywood films and 9877 bollywood films including 3487 films of the mahesh bhatt camp alone. the first bollywood film using this ‘character’ that comes to mind is ‘kala paththar’ from 1979. so you can imagine how old the cliche has been in hollywood.
2. why wud this guy go to church to confess?? even the most secular of hindus, though toleratnt of other religions dont go churches to solve huge dilemmas. i mean this ‘church cliche’ may have appeared cute to sissy srk fans in ddlj/jab tak hai jaan’ but in a supposedly serious film like madras cafe it makes you puke.
3. all the officials make everything a personal mission, so much so that not only john but even his boss (siddhartha basu) gives up his job wen he cant save the PM.( his wife is actually crying with tears rolling down her cheeks) well in reality most officials are just looking for ways to make money most of the time. the army ppl toe the line of arms dealers, the secrent agents of the political bosses etc. so the whole sincerity of everyone looks so fake.
4. the shaky camera thing has been done to death in everyting from ‘departed’ to monsoon wedding. the entire shooting style is so fake and wannabe. the most cliched of dialoge (transliterated fromenglish version “wat was her/his falut” ) wen some one gets killed is used twice in the film )imagine) the cliche of taking the middle, more dramattic word of a sentence to start the dialogue with has been use throughoutthe film. most of the dilaougues are the most ghisela pitela ever in a hindi film.
5. which channels in pre 1991 packaged news the way channels do today with hinglish, breaking news tickers etc? as far as i know there was only dd1 and dd2 where a newsreader wud just sit an narrate news.
6. which prime minister resigned becoz of ltte and srilanka? none. rajeev gandhi lost 1989 elections, vp singh was toppled becoz of mandal, chandrashekhar went after1991 elections.
7. since wen has everyone in the south started speaking hindi, that to with adages,muhavaras and sayings? nargis talks in english, john relpies in hindi.
8. wen john calls up to inform a collegue’s wife of his death (since he was a senior, cudnt a junior have done this job) the wife is not only, cliche of cliches, pregnant, but also holding her stomach so no viewer misses it.
9. in the middle of a shootout john runs into the shower of bullets and drags his hurt collegue back with not a single bullet touching him. well how dabangg can a realistic and intelligent political thriller get?
10. only the dumbest filmmaker, with no imagination wud open a film with a long voiceover. and the one with zero flair for audio-visual narration will use it throughhout the film.
Raj – I do agree with your listed no of inaccuracies, cliches & other blundders but they are minimal & can be attributed to cinematic liberties that director & producer enjoys & it is the fact that film is based on fewer true incidents but not a biopic of a RAW agent nor the exact conspiracy behind RG’s assassination (still unknown to public at large). I enjoyed the movie very much & it is an excellent output from a limited budget. It was thrilling, engaging as well as captivating at the same time.
PS: Didn’t like John as RAW agent nor Fuckre
On 1 &2 I had said same thing in my comment after watching the movie that John narrating the story to the priest was unnecessary.
Don’t agree with 3. If John and his boss were honest there were dishonest ones like Bala and his assistant too. There were people who did not care and said inform the local police too.
4. the shaky camera thing is perfectly fine for a movie like this. I don’t remember if there was a shaky camera thing in Monsoon Wedding but you should question as to why that movie needs a shaky camera thing. Movies like The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty – any movie which has a realistic war feel to it will have a shaky camera thing. Get used to it.
I think the dialogue was Kya Galti Thi Unki and I don’t see what’s wrong with that. Dialogues were fine. They weren’t jingoistic nor were they seeti maar masala dialogues.
On 5 I had mentioned the DD point in my comment too.
On 6 Did the movie show that a prime minister resigned becoz of ltte and srilanka? I don’t remember the movie showing it like that. The movie may have borrowed from real events/incidents but is not a actual retelling with the same names and stuff.
“7. since wen has everyone in the south started speaking hindi, that to with adages,muhavaras and sayings? nargis talks in english, john relpies in hindi.”
A movie usually has people speak in the language of the audience that its intended for. That is why Gladiator/Slumdog Millionaire are in English. There is another section of audience who does not like Chennai Express because Tamilians are shown speaking in Tamil. People had problem with Kites because there was too much Spanish.
“8. wen john calls up to inform a collegue’s wife of his death (since he was a senior, cudnt a junior have done this job) the wife is not only, cliche of cliches, pregnant, but also holding her stomach so no viewer misses it.”
So what? They wanted to highlight how a person working for Indian govt dies in the line of duty leaving behind a woman who is pregnant with a child. You would have had a problem if she was not pregnant and been overjoyed at his death too. It would have not been cliche but problematic then too.
“9. in the middle of a shootout john runs into the shower of bullets and drags his hurt collegue back with not a single bullet touching him. well how dabangg can a realistic and intelligent political thriller get?”
You should have a problem with every thriller where the hero does not die in the middle. Why should his colleague die? John should have died in the scene. In a movie where John was playing a RAW agent there were no heroics from him – there is no scene where he rescues someone or bashes anyone. There is not a single fight scene of him. In fact the hero – the RAW agent gets kidnapped. Is this not a positive?
On 10 I have a problem with voice over too. I don’t know why Bollywood filmmakers have this thing for flashbacks and narration by someone.
Since you say “madras cafe is one of the dumbest films i have seen in a long time” can you name some smart/intelligent movies especially political thrillers from Bollywood?
My comment after watching the movie.
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great reply spuntik. i wanted to reply to the pointers but i dont think any of them are major enuff to affect the movie as a whole. and his opening line is enuff to convince that he is probably not happy with the praises and BO the film has got.atleast some of the audience do deserve a CE/ETT. 😉
Thanks Baba
https://www.ummid.com/news/2013/August/27.08.2013/madras-cafe.html
Author looks like LTTE sympathizer.
https://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2011/10/71974_space.html
https://www.countercurrents.org/karthick120512.htm
@FS – this is like a masala action fan saying he agrees there are a lot of stupidties, amn cant beat up 20 ppl and no humans can fly and kick some one but they are minimal and can be attributed to ‘cinematc liberties’.
in fact even a porn viewer can say i dont think its real sex but thats ok. i still like it.
@sputnik – my objection was not to honest ppl being there. it was about honest ppl making it a personal mission to the extent of getting affexcted emotionally and even leaving jobs.
and i am not going to any cliched style of shotting- shaking camera or camera going topsy turvey in a mandir song against god in the 80s. both are cliched and equally artless.
and why wud i expect a soldier’s wife to be happy at his death?? all i am saying is that the pregnnant wife is a cliche done to death both in hollywood and bollywood.
the rescuing of his collegaue amidst shower of bullets is as good as dabangg flying or matrix. its over the top and not INTELLIGENT at all. they shud have thought of another way. in any case the colleague dies so they cud have avoided showing john’s bravado with the body being recovered afterwards as shootout stops.
and here is my list of good films (i dont know of any intellgent films) from the last few years (both commercial and parellel)
ship of thesus
3 idiots
ghajini
wanted
ek tha tiger
hazaaron khwahishein aisi
maqbool
fire
no entry
om shanti om
bandit queen
hum aapke hain kaun.
ghajini, wanted, oso? LOL thats an impressive list, you could never have liked a MC. its confirmed 😉
dnt mind, but he commented about bandit queen and hka etc too. cant u read. i think, no body has right to say that ur taste is not good. i think if anyone is commenting then he/she should see full comment. i liked oso and wanted seriously and i liked mc too… one need to have vast taste and understanding of each type of cinema. btw according to u i am an exception since i liked oso, wanted and mc
“no body has right to say that ur taste is not good”
one has every right to question the reason for liking a film,no one supports any film for no reason. his reasons for dismissing MC were pretty juvenile to even debate on and he evaded sputniks question when he asked him to name a better film in that genre. instead he gave a list of random films that he says he likes but there is not much intellectual connectivity between them.bandit queen, hka names are merely thrown to establish a credential.
“no body has right to say that ur taste is not good” Agreed . Taste can be different. But no one can judge it .And also No one is bound to give reasons for liking a film .Most of the times i like a film because i enjoyed it .I don’t think it needs any more reasons. And agree with some of raj’s choices ,3i,hka,no entry.
P.S:Not following the debate from beginning .Also haven’t seen MC .My reply is purely based on last two comments .
“No one is bound to give reasons for liking a film”
yes no one is bound to give reasons for liking a film but that doesnt mean the reasons dont exist! what is the point of saying you liked xyz film and cant come up with a reason? it has no meaning.may be if you do, atleast you will inpsire a couple of ppl to watch it/critise it or enjoy it like you did.
@baba – how come u didnt laugh abt no entry?????
off course i cud never have liked a pretentious laboured film like madras cafe.
bcos no entry is widely accepted crap but not the other ones which i mentioned 😉 why to talk abt somethin that is alreayd obvious
i think he has givn the reason of not liking mc in last cooment,
nd if u ask me y i liked wanted nd oso, then oso humor i found was very good, in 1st half almost every joke get along with me, in 2nd half there was not much but it was ok, but since 1st half was very good to me, so i liked it. i cn give the reason for wanted too.
agreed his reason are laughable, but i ws just commenting on ur comment “since he liked oso and wanted, he can not like mc. its copnfirmed” i find it wrong, so i commented.and i have given my example to say thta it don’t work like that…
i ws busy so couldn’t reply at that point of time
@raj are u tamilian or from tamil nadu???? 😛
@saurabh – though u seem to be supporting my view, u r falling in the same trap. the credibility of my views on liking wanted, ghajini and oso doesdnt get enhanced becoz i liked ship of thesus, hazaaroon khwahishei aiiss or fire. even if i dont like them, it doesnt make the VALUE OF my view on wanted oso and ghajini any less than baba’s view on madras cafe.
@BABA – and why do i need to “establish credentials”??? as i said even if my favourite film is himmatwala or even krazy 4, it doesnt mean my views on madras cafe are less (or more) valuable than urs.
and BABA & SAURABH – by the way, only someone liking a juvenile, pretentious and laboured film like madras cafe can find my perfectly reasonable objections TO MADRAS CAFE LOOPHOLES ‘LAUGHABLE OR JUVENILE”.
no , if you say your fav is hw or krazzy 4, then your opinion holds no value.
@baba – and if r favourite film is madras cafe then not only ur opinion on movies holds no value but even ur election card shud be confiscated and ur voting rights shud be cancelled before 2014 elections.
@ank16 – yes. how did u guess???
really??…..then u can say i m very very good in observing n extracting their traits..!! 🙂
i was replying at that time to baba, so i was trying to counter his comment, so i used that manner, coz i thought he will give value to ur liking by saying those movies.
btw u r correct that “. the credibility of my views on liking wanted, ghajini and oso doesdnt get enhanced becoz i liked ship of thesus, hazaaroon khwahishei aiiss or fire. even if i dont like them, it doesnt make the VALUE OF my view on wanted oso and ghajini any less than baba’s view on madras cafe. ”
but i didn’t liked ur reason for not liking MC. i found them bad. and also i can comment to say this i didn’t like ur reasons at all. but ya i cant say ur taste is bad.
while you can be genuinely not liking mc and liking masala stuff.. but there many who just say i like masala, but they are not genuine. like they are just saying it because his fav star do only masala stuff.. so if u just say u like oso and wnated, and will not take name like HKA, bandit queen. then not everybody will take u serious or ur likness..
raj,
I think you missed out on BODYGUARD in that list of yours(It had that well-praised “Garden Scene” remember?
Soul-stirring stuff, I tell ya..)
😀
Anyways, good to see you here 🙂
ps: I wonder what’s with Shah Rukh’s DDLJ Username, though!
I mean shouldn’t it have been Prem, Radhey or Arjun Ranawat maybe 😉
ps-2: Ship of Theseus makes it to your ‘All-Time’ list.
Ab toh download karna hi padega.!
@saurabh – “so if u just say u like oso and wnated, and will not take name like HKA, bandit queen. then not everybody will take u serious or ur likness..”
and who the hell is EVERYBODY to take me sriously or not? wat gives them the power the value or not value my opinions? just becoz they liked madras cafe does it prove them any more intelligent than me?
@ank – but why wud u want to “extract my traits”? or r u saying u r good at recognizing ‘tamilian traits’? in which case r u a tamilain, or have stayed in tamilnadu?
see raj the thing is like baba i wud have very well argued with u right-left n centre but after reading ur comments i understood u may be from TN so stopped 😉
so extracting n judging does help in arguments 😛
@serenzy – i have not watched the whole of bodyguard, only bits and pieces on tv. so i cant comment on it.
sharukh’s ddlj username is my name. though i was born before ddlj released.
as on ship of theseus – it has three stories. the 1st i found pretentious, the second was a very good script but cinematically just above average but the third is a masterpiece. and soham shah, the director of such crap as kaal and luck turne in an excellent performance.
@ank – why? r u sacred of arguing with ppl from TN?
Madras Café references:
https://www.indianexpress.com/news/uncovering-the-war/1168571/0
Thanks for the link. Good read. Nice to see someone call LTTE for what they are.
“Nice to see someone call LTTE for what they are”
A hell lot of things go in civil war – its not just two sides of coin. There can be many angles. Its not as simple as ppl in India like Shivaji or Maharana Prathap fighting Moughals who invaded us. Situation is more complicated when the ppl of same race are separated geographically .. over other countries (more so when it is across the sea and detached from main land). Not justifying anything – but just that its easy to confirm our beliefs which “our” media told us for years …
I am not saying that the Sri Lankan Tamils did not have any genuine grievances or that they were not mistreated/persecuted in Sri Lanka. But they should have adopted non violent means for their political struggle/rights.
LTTE was a separatist terrorist organization who used suicide bombings and child soldiers and also indulged in ethnic cleansing. So I don’t think they deserve any sympathy.
“Situation is more complicated when the ppl of same race are separated geographically .. over other countries ”
Same logic applies to Indian Muslim and Pakistan Muslim?
Most of times civil war (at least in modern era) is for Power than actual subjugation of one type of people. People want bread and butter and equal opportunity to succeed. Of course politicians are main culprits but gullible public is no less responsible.
“But they should have adopted non violent means for their political struggle/rights.”
Again that is based on many assumptions 🙂
What if other party never agreed to their demands or cheated them continuously? Well anyways …
Before blaming LTTE, Just ask one Q
Who created LTTE???
Who did IPKF mess ???
Who created idea of Elam in Sri lankan tamils??
I posted this article in FB group and its 3 part series.
It doesn’t go all the way as usual SG bats for Indian Govt except one passing line.
I wonder how many people really know the answers to these questions. Indira Gandhi’s role in the creation and training of LTTE. The grievances suffered by ethnic Tamil people in Srilanka are genuine, as witnessed by refugee influx in several countries including India. Horrible state of affairs if one digs deeper.
But thanks to the more popular acts of terrorism LTTE indulged in, including killing of the son of the lady who helped in their creation, justice has not been served to the really deserving ones. And in all probability will never be.
As hithere raised the pertinent question “Same logic applies to Indian Muslim and Pakistan Muslim?” would we all be ok if we apply similar yardstick of Indian Tamils supporting LTTE demands of separate Eelam State to Pakistanis supporting Kashmiri terrorists who demand Azad Kashmir?
In both cases no matter how justified their political demands or struggle are how valid their grievances they should have used non violent means.
I don’t know about Pakistan muslim supporting idea of free Kashmir. However, not all Tamilians support Tamil Ellam creation. The support to LTTE which Political parties show in Tamil Nadu, is just votebank policy or a stunt which might work with uneducated sections. Anything related to LTTE always has too much political involvement which is rather obvious and too irritating for a common man. However, there is common feeling of pity and helplessness.
You can’t create something and turn your face when purpose is served or creation turns to be Frankenstein???
RAW Created LTTE. Prabhakarn used to come to delhi and meet from PM to all. Govt of day stopped all military n logistic help to ltte only when RG was killed…
Samw way was Created Bhindrawale by Govt of the day to marginalise Akali’s and take control of SGPC ….
Its just like Osama’s CIA connection. The mess you created always comes back to haunt.
When Govt of the day creates such Terrorist org or personalities thn Why to blame them and thn pontificate that whatever may be provocation, violence is not a way. When Govt creates this violence than What to do or say ???
Rest abt Kashmir :
Do we all know what Kashmir problem really is ???
And its TL, When, How, Where, Why and major spikes or turning points till now???
Please explain us Tulmul, it would be helpful.
I have to ask you one more thing. You have so much knowledge about history, social & political aspects of our country but have you gained it from reading articles the people u follow/inspired frm or have u genuinely read so many books & researched for original texts
FS do u mean tehelka articles which u read??? 😛
better than planet akshay articles 😛
salmancasefiles.com site dekhne waale @FS babu tum kya jaano planet Akshay ki kimat 😀
Mein jaan na bhi nahin chahta
Mein jatana bhi nahin chahta
Mujhe tumse shikayat nahin, ye batana bhi nahin chahta
planetakshay.com ki jo bhi kemat ho, akshay ki keemat 60 cr par fix ho gayi lagti hai.
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