'Udta
Punjab' is Brutally Honest!
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Reviewer’s
Thumb Mark
Udta Punjab depicts
two kinds of battle: one with the external forces that cripples a society and two
with self by the drug addicts to break the shackle of drug addiction. The
beauty of Udta Punjab’ is that it doesn’t have a lead pair; the main
protagonist of the film is the menacing ‘Drugs and its Addiction”.
The film opens
depicting a windy night and three scooter-borne youths riding through the
darkness of a dusty road that cut through lush green fields amidst tall swaying
trees on either side of it. And one of them tries to ape like an Olympic-level
shot putter to heave a packet of drugs neatly packed like a disc to land at a
far distant field on the other side of the border (Punjab). And what appears on
the packet midair is the title ‘Udta Punjab’.
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Punjab a land of five
rivers is high and dry because of the unholy nexus between the drug lords,
politicians and the police. Tommy Singh Aka Gabru (Shahid Kapoor) a rockstar by
chance is high on drugs and becomes an overnight sensation. His songs and lyrics
are a concoction of ‘coke and cock’ that pulsate in the dim lights of popular
pubs and concerts keeping the youths equally high grooving whole night. He is a
youth icon and his fans ape him. Tommy’s rise and fall is heartrending to watch
and Tommy’s statement to his fans - “Do you want to see the real Tommy not the
Gabru then look here I am ‘Tommy the Fuddu (Moron)’. I sang and composed songs
on drugs and you made it your life’s philosophy. You are a bigger Fuddu than
me” - shows the inner battle of an already beleaguered rockstar. Shahid Kapoor
as Tommy Singh has given an outstanding performance. His histrionics as a rockstar
high on drugs and his vulnerabilities are well essayed by him.
Along with Tommy
Singh there are three other characters that add momentum to the plot of Udta
Punjab and they are - a Bihari labourer played by Alia Bhatt, Dr. Preet Sahni (Kareena
Kapoor Khan) a specialist who works in a de-addiction centre as well as an anti-drug
crusader and a transformed corrupt cop Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh).
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Diljit Dosanjh who is
a huge star in Punjabi movies and also an acclaimed singer and television
Presenter has won the hearts of the viewers as a repenting corrupt cop who
wants to make up for his lapses as a family man. He and Kareena Kapoor Khan as
Dr. Preet have pulled off their act successfully. Her inquisitiveness as an
anti-drug crusader - who sees death and trauma of both the addicts and their
family members daily - to dig out the source of drugs in the state and to
unmask the custodians of law and politics in front of the public is quite
commendable.
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The showstopper in Udta Punjab is Alia Bhatt as the nameless
Bihari migrant labourer wielding a hockey. Though she tries hard to pick up the
right accent of a Bihari she is remarkable in her deglamorized look and her mannerisms
to authenticate the role she plays are well enacted. Her journey from the ‘Student
of the Year’ to this role of a migrant labourer in Udta Punjab tells us that
there is much more about Alia as an actor to be explored. Her role in the film ‘Highway’
and now in Udta Punjab shall be marked as one among many other landmarks as an
actor in her profile.
Abhishek Chaubey’s
Udta Punjab is definitely more real and less reel. He is successful in his
story telling with flair in depicting well etched characters to tell the hard
and painful reality of a society. It is worth a watch after all the hullabaloo
about defaming a state and all. Udta Punjab doesn’t defame Punjab rather it
brings back the focus on it and its glorious past and its contribution as a state
to the country’s agrarian growth and economic stability.
Udta Punjab is a
wakeup call for all of us to proactively participate in the crusade against
drugs and the perpetrators. It’s worth
appreciating the grit and guts of the team of Udta Punjab who knocked the doors
of the judiciary to get the movie released on time with bare minimal cuts. The
kind of mass support from prominent personalities in the industry as well as
people across the country is commendable. Therefore,
it won’t be an exaggeration to say that Udta Punjab is not only a movie that
highlights the drug menace but is also an example for the right of freedom of
expression. It’s high time that we learn from history that the people at the
power centres may be successful partially in silencing individuals but not a
nation. So go and watch Udta Punjab not for its reasons it had to be in the
news but for its hard hitting story.
Life
Connoisseur Movie Rating:3.75/5
Cast:
Shahid Kapoor (Tommy Singh), Alia Bhatt (Bihari migrant Labourer), Kareena
Kapoor Khan (Dr. Preet Sahni), Diljit Dosanjh (Sartaj Singh), Satish Kaushik
(uncle of Tommy Singh), Prabhjyot Singh (Bali)
Genre:
Crime
Director:
Abhishek Chaubey
Producers:
Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Aman Gill,
Sameer Nair
Written
by:
Sudip Sharma (Dialogues)
Screenplay:
Sudip Sharma, Abhishek Chaubey
Story:
Sudip Sharma, Abhishek Chaubey
Music
by:
Original Songs by Amit Trivedi
Background
Score: Benedict Taylor, Naren Chandavarkar
Cinematography:
Rajeev Ravi
Edited
by:
Meghna Sen
Production:
Balaji Motion Pictures, Phantom films
Distributor:
Balaji Motion Pictures
Release
Date: 17th June, 2016
Duration:
149 Minutes
Language:
Hindi
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