Aug 24, 2013 10:19 AM
1961 Views
¬Review of ‘Madras Cafe’- Geopolitical realities of a nation are determined by the strategic game of chess played by ruling politicians. Prodding the actions from behind the scenes are the shrewdest of brains, which comprise the think tanks of a country and who pen the National Strategy. Now we might be flattering ourselves, if we believe every national move in our brief 60 year history was a well thought out action.
Shoojit Circar’s ‘Madras Cafe’ would have you believe that there is some method to the madness that occurred when the IPKF entered war torn Sri Lanka. Carefully masking all real names with fictitious ones, the film purports to be a work of fiction.
Possibly the first mainstream Bollywood film to have based its plot on the 1987 IPKF operation, Madras Cafe’ is the account of a RAW operative who with privileged information at his disposal gives us a well enunciated bird’s eye view of the problem engulfing the Island nation.
The narrative is linear in a flashback. The subject is deftly handled by the new director and sweeping strokes of patriotism aren’t lumped on us. The LTTE, it’s Karuna led rival faction, the Indian Army and the ‘Foreign hands’ are the set pieces in the plot unravels in distant lands of Bangkok, Singapore and London along with the verdant tropical forests of Sri Lanka. With snippets of outdoor shots of Colombo, Delhi, Kochi, Madurai, Chennai and the southern coast, the film appears more real than fiction.
The transition from a flawless urban intelligent comedy ‘Vicky Donor’ to a war genre isn’t easy one for the director and one can see effort put in on the screen. John Abraham is ably supported by a large supporting cast in various roles, from R&AW officials to Tamil speaking LTTE cadres, all of who look credible. While we don’t get an Indian ‘Blood Diamond’ here, kudos to the producers of the film to attempt telling a story not many of us clearly know.
This in a country, where people are just waiting to be hurt by intelligent cinema and not by stupid ones. 4 stars
