Metro (Life in a Metro)

I think love is a fascinating topic if handled well. There is something amazing about all of us and our universal quest for love. Maybe its that we’re never sure when we find true love ? Or maybe, as we’re never content (true to the human spirit of progress etc), even when we’ve found our life partner / are married, we still find ways to make ourselves unhappy and search for something else. Or maybe its even that we often confuse lust with love ?

The title could easily be ‘The hunt for love in a big city’. It showcases 3 / 4 different yet interlinked storylines showing how different characters search for this elusive, missing commodity in their lives. Some are even married – but as any married couple knows, that doesn’t necessarily mean that love is still alive.

What I liked in the movie

• The depiction is very realistic. Very. When one character starts shouting at her husband, he just turns around and says ‘you must be having you periods’.



• The storyline is very crisp – the pace never flags, you don’t feel bored and it lasts only 130/140 mts



• They show a very nice mix of characters – from the BPO crowd to assistants to a housewife. The dialogues were very well written, very true to life



• The music is very good – the song ‘in dino’ is exceptional



• The performances are outstanding – Sharman Joshi, Kay Kay Menon, Shilpa Shetty, Konkona Sen, Kangana Raut were all terrific. However the one who stole the show was Irfaan Khan – he was simply brilliant. For one sequence, when he and Konkana are sitting on some rocks by the sea, towards the end, the audience literally got up and started applauding.



• All three leading ladies looked very good. I'll be nice and wont make anymore politically insensitive remarks



• The movie, despite the serious nature of the topic, doesn’t get too ‘heavy’. There are enough light moments, especially driven by Irfaan’s character (and Sharman’s in the initial part).



• Even though, one of the storylines is blatantly copied from one of my favourite classic movies (The Apartment, starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine, directed by Billy Wilder), they copy it / adapt to the current Indian milieu well

What I didn’t like

• I think the Dharmendra / Nafisa Ali storyline didn’t really add much to the movie. I also thought both (especially Dharmendra) overacted a bit.



• All the songs were picturised on the singers while showing the movie / characters in the background – pretty much like a music video. For me, that made the songs more like a break in the film, rather than a part of it.



• I wish they had made Shilpa Shetty’s character a bit stronger / more independent. She cried too much / was too forgiving for my liking.

As an aside, I saw this movie in Priya PVR (in Vasant Vihar, Delhi) and I thanked my stars that multiplexes are now so common in India. They’re just so much more convenient for the consumer and the screen, even if you’re in the front, is so much easier to see.

I’ve always been a fan of interlinked stories and this one is executed very well. Unlike Salaam-E-Ishq, for example, which is just about the concept / big stars, this one has more meat, more substance. And what do you know, it may make you understand / appreciate the love of your life just that little bit more.