Madras Cafe

#Madras Café: As an innocuous kid I woke up on the morning of 22^nd May 1991 to hear about the assassination of our former prime minister. There was terror, grief and anger in the air. As I settled down on my seat and watched the opening scene of merciless killing of innocent people and the helicopters flying in the sky I could feel the same terror and anguish.  Shoojit Sircar after directing two vastly different, but extremely relevant topics, love in the back drop of a terror struck Kashmir (Yahaan) and sperm donation (Vicky Donor) comes back to paint a gripping picture of the dark alleys of Jafna , the inglorious days of constant threat from the LTTE and the violent result of a political decision .

“One man’s terrorist is another man’s revolutionary” sums up the back drop of Madras Café. A debatable decision taken in June 1987 to send the IPKF to Colombo to hold the rebels and initiate peace process ironically ended in 1991 with the assassination of the Prime Minister. Sircar’s political thriller abstains from naming anyone, but his plot is a sublime combination of facts with fiction. He uses voice over and flashback to take his story back & forth and imageries shot in documentary style to showcase the strife torn island and its bloodied history. As the main protagonist Major Vikram (John Abraham) has been assigned the task of carrying out covert operations. While on his mission he discovers the deep treachery that people in the system are involved in. His disillusionment and sense of loss (both personal & professional) is heart wrenching. John surrenders himself to the character and gives a restrained performance essential for the role. The scenes between the military, cabinet secretaries and RAW chiefs are shot realistically. Sidhhartha Basu as a demanding chief fits into the role beautifully. Nargis Fakhri fails to impress even with the accent and Rashi Khanna has very limited scope to showcase her ability.

   

Kamaljeet Negi deserves a special mention for using unique camera angles to paint reality and capturing emotions in a terror prone land where treachery rules. Madras Café is a difficult plot handled with immense maturity and much restraint. It avoids unnecessary jingoism and ends on an intriguing note asking pertinent questions as maula sun le re plays in the backdrop.

I will go with 4 out of 5 for a movie that captures a piece of our distorted political history and surely deserves an audience. It may not excite you to do “Lungi Dance” but surely will enrich your cinematic experience!

P.S.: A bit understanding of the backdrop of IPKF and Tamil Eelum movement will help in understanding the essence of the movie.