Synopsis
What on earth can a rock star, a migrant labourer, a Doctor and a Police Officer possibly have in common? Simple, PUNJAB! 4 Lives, 1 connection – ‘Udta Punjab’ takes you on a trip like never before. Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Diljit Dosanjh play characters from different walks of life, fighting the menace of drugs in their own way. The film journeys into the artificial highs and the real lows that they face while treading the paths fraught with mortal dangers, but above all Udta Punjab is about the famed Punjabi spirit, that despite being fully down, has the audacity of looking you in the eye and saying – Drugs Di Maa Di!
Some scenes are excellent like the scene where a Pakistani Shot Put player throws a drugs packet across the border or the scene where Tommy and his gang try to crash the car of the music producers or the police raid scene at Tommy’s house or the scene where Tommy shoots at his Taayaji. The rape scene is very chilling. The best scene of the movie is the scene where Alia lashes out at Tommy.
The Preet part of the movie is the weakest part of the movie. Her whole track feels somewhat filmy specially the scene where she and Sartaj go to a drug manufacturing factory. Alia Bhatt’s character throwing of the drug packet does not make sense.
Story and Screenplay by Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Chaubey is good. The fist half of the movie is excellent. The movie then loses its steam and becomes a little artsy and self indulgent for a while. The climax and ending again is excellent. Music by Amit Trivedi is excellent. The songs Chitta Ve, Da Da Dasse, Ikk Kudi and Ud-daa Punjab are excellent and very well picturized.
Shahid Kapoor is excellent as Tommy Singh but he comes off as a drug junkie throughout the movie. His role does remind of his performance from Haider though. Alia Bhatt is excellent as the poor migrant laborer. She is brilliant in the scene where he lashes out at Tommy. Diljit Dosanh is excellent as the cop Sartaj. Kareena Kapoor’s performance is the weakest performance of the movie. Satish Kaushik is excellent as Taayaji.
Abhishek Chaubey’s direction is excellent except for part of second half where it becomes a little self indulgent. The movie is definitely anti drugs and has a good message for the youth of Punjab. The movie not only shows the bad effects of drugs on young people but it also highlights the life of people who get affected indirectly due to the drug trade. Despite a partly weak second half the movie is still excellent and highly recommended.
Highly Recommended
Tags: Abhishek Chaubey Alia Bhatt Diljit Dosanjh Kareena Kapoor Member Reviews Reviews Shahid Kapoor Udta Punjab