Madras Cafe: Inglorious in its tenacity of purpose and stirring in its screenplay, Madras Cafe brings the genre of docu-drama-thrillers to India competently. After D Day which was too emotional in its message, this Shoojit Sircar-directed flick based on real life circumstances is efficiently cold, brutal and sinister in its plotting and portrayal. John Abraham plays the RAW agent role with panache and brooding angst, solidly in control with the character. Siddharth Basu is a revelation as an actor while all the Tamilian actors in the film are creditable and worthy of their roles. Interestingly, Nargis Fakhri does play her part well, although her English dialogues to the Hindi ones are a turn off. Although the plot is based on real life events, Sircar manages to blend fact and fiction seamlessly and keeps the viewers on the edge. Never does the film teeter on sentimality and melodrama, even though the situations demand the same. The screen is splattered in blood once too often to convey the harsh reality of the Lankan civil war and also too send across a strong message of the futility of the war resulting in unwanted bloodshed. The cinematography is terrific while the background score is fantastic in terms of the war episodes. The first half builds up a double-crossing agenda while the second half is paced kinetically to unfold all the action behind one of the shattering chapters in Indian history. For Shoojit, it is a similar genre movie as Yahaan, his first directorial venture. Recommended for people who like real drama and do not get goosebumps when watching brutality on screen. Rating: 8/10
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 20:48:44 +0000