Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola Review

“Khatra hai!” –don’t worry I’m not warning you against anything this is just, alike barfi, a delightful, creative and funny pre-intro to Vishal Bhardwaj’s quirky titled “Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola “. This maiden politic satire from the director cum composer takes up farmer’s  land issue and the corruption thereof involving a young do –gooder Matru (Imran Khan) , a filthy rich and ardent drinker  Harry Mandola (Pankaj Kapoor) ,his daughter engaged to be married  Bijli (Anushka Sharma) and cunning politician Chaudari Devi (Shabana azmi).

Where Vishal Bhardwaj aces the comedy card with brilliant drunk humour from the power packed Pankaj Kapoor appropriately complimented by Imran Khan, the first half represents a weak amalgamation of the comic element and the story line .Unlike other comedy drama movies like Hera Pheri ,Housefull 2,Rawdy Rathore where the major plot of whatever nature re-enforces itself after comic gags, in this movie the plot specially in the first half seems over shadowed by character development . The second half shows much more actions to move the plot which culminates into a low key climax but seems a bit boring with its unnecessary length.

The casting looks good and this results in awesome performance delivery, where Pankaj Kapoor is truly amazing with his perfect Haryanvi dialect and stupendous acting, Imran Khan breaking out from his chocolate boy image fairs well in his handsome portrayal of Matru , Anushka’s character though under developed remains monotonous vis a vis her characters in other movies , she does fine .Shabana Azmi is another gem with her perfect portrayal of the shrewd character. Arya Babbar does well for his role.

Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola adds to the list of movies bearing sheer realistic cinematography by the director. It also visually conforms to the Vishal Bhardwaj movies with its lighting and colour reminding one of Omkara and Saat koof Maaf. 

The music fits like a glove to the movie and boasts some local flavoured numbers like the title track, sha ra ra, oye boy Charlie and khamakha/

Watch this one for gulabo (the pink cow), a haryanvi Imran Khan and a drunk Pankaj Kapoor!

Rating 3/5