Madras Cafe, a 2013 film directed by Shoojit Sircar of Vicky Donor (2012) fame, has ambition to be a high-decibel political espionage thriller but in the end leaves one with a cacophonous, flat after-taste. Loosely based on events in Sri Lanka and Tamilnadu surrounding the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by LTTE, the film promises to unravel the murky underbelly of geo-political stratagems, but the muck thus brought out is under-cooked, over-spiced and actively colour corrected. Dramatic bangs begin episodes (like when the protagonist Major Vikram Singh -John Abraham- is double crossed and abducted in Jaffna) but facile whimpers inevitably bring up the unexciting derrieres. There is grave talk of grand conspiracy, but given the already well-known facts of the LTTE-driven assassination plot, the revelations, when they eventually come, don't seem anywhere near the promised goodies. John Abraham would have worked, given a tighter, smarter story (and dialogues). Ms Nargis Fakhri as Jaya Sahni (a sexy news correspondent in designer war-wear, in conflict-green Sri Lanka) is eye candy for none. There are faint ripples of unintended condescension in the way Delhiwallahs treat Tamis / Malayalis / Sinhalese. And the title is misleading - nothing of interesting and/or fully-realised consequence ever happens in Madras Cafe (is it in Chennai or Singapore?) the actual space.
I am sure Shoojit Sircar has watched New Delhi Times (a 1986 film directed by Romesh Sharma and written by Gulzar) and Z (a 1969 political thriller directed by Costa-Gavras, set in Greece). Then why this kolaveri kolaveri da ?
I am sure Shoojit Sircar has watched New Delhi Times (a 1986 film directed by Romesh Sharma and written by Gulzar) and Z (a 1969 political thriller directed by Costa-Gavras, set in Greece). Then why this kolaveri kolaveri da ?
