The Maoist Entertainment

Being weird is not Vishal Bhardwaj’s thing. I guess he traveled a bit on that track while making Saat Khoon Maaf, which was a disappointment even if not a complete disaster. Machis, Maqbool, Omkara and Kaminey were masterpieces in their own right, out of which Maqbool remains close to my jittering soul, Kaminey keeps my soul on the edge and Omkara remains close to my threatened belief. But with Matru ki Bijali ka Mandola you get to see a really different Vishal Bhardwaj. Unfortunately, the difference is not enriching.

A few things in Matru ki Bijli ka Mandola are spot on. For instance, the scene where a saffron clad man is chanting rhymes and a bunch of boys (saffron clad) are following him and making the exact same hand movements as he is making while offering samidha in the homakund. You can’t miss ‘the making of fundamentalists’ in this scene. There is a group of Zulu people that helps farmers’ struggle in Mandola village. The African connection in farmers’ struggle is suggestive. And then there is the last scene where a drunken bride makes a complete mockery of wedding.

With some impact to its credit, Matru ki Bijli ka Mandola fails to deliver mainly because ‘Mao’ is a quick action hero here and spends more time drawing caricatures of the imperialists than cutting closer to the aching nerve. While the second half is little more engaging, first half does not make a substantial contribution to the political statement that the movie wishes to make and revolves around the drunken rides of Matru (Imran Khan) and Mandola (Pankaj Kapur). The fact that Mandola is a tyrant when he is sober and a revolutionary when he is drunk is perplexing and even if it has to be accepted as a part of creative liberty, it is not an easy thing to do.

Hukum Singh Matru, Mandola’s Man Friday, who has been assigned a job to keep Mandola away from liquor, turns out to be ‘Mao’ (he is a JNU alumnus) who unites the farmers against the proposed land acquisition for an SEZ. The scheming minister (Shabana Azmi) and her ‘pure-evil-but-lacks-brain’ son Badal (Arya Babbar) are after getting Bijali (Anushka Sharma), Mandola’s daughter, married to Badal so that funds can flow freely.

While it touches an important subject, the movie does not give a linear understanding of the development myth or the state’s logic behind SEZ. The subject was handled with requisite attention in last year’s ‘Shanghai’. MKBKM tries to bring in too much symbols and entertainment and in the process loses its focus. The people’s movement remains like the ‘gulabi bhains’ syndrome that Mandola develops. It comes and goes. It does not get an explanation.

Pankaj Kapur is brilliant as usual and he brings out Mandola with charm and passion. While Shabana Azmi, Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma have their moments, it is Arya Babbar who is a surprise packet of the film.

More than anything, such films need to be viewed for the accuracy of bringing an issue to the surface and painting the inner conflicts. The best example so far is Hazaro Khwahishen Aisi which has made a massive contribution to Indian cinema and Indian political cinema. This film remains a challenge for the filmmakers who want to go deeper and grab the pulse of social-economic upheaval. MKBKM takes the right subject but somehow does not make you sit up and take notice because of its feisty mood. While Hazaro Khwahishen Aisi is a real profound experience, MKBKM is like a holiday that tries hard to be profound.