Madras Cafe
Hindi (U/A) ¬¬¬
Director: Shoojit Sircar
Cast: John Abraham, Siddharth Basu, Ajay Rathnam, Nargis Fakhri, Dibang
If there is one director who is willing to push the envelope it is Shoojit Sircar. Yet, he seems to be a man unconcerned with final results, consumed as he is with journey of the making. So his films have found different resonances each time — be it Yahaan (critically acclaimed with moderate success at the BO); Vicky Donor (a critical and commercial hit which made a neat Rs 40 crore plus) and now, Madras Cafe (MC) whose fate too should be good, barring the slow pick up.
Its subject (assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi) is so obvious that it is indeed strange that nobody from mainstream Hindi cinema thought of picking it up earlier — with the exception of Santosh Sivan who made The Terrorist. While Sircar admits that the film revolves around the assassination, he also states that the plot is fictitious.
Abraham does his best, playing a military man doubling up as a RAW agent Vikram Singh posted in Jaffna, but could have done better. He is supported well by Nargis Fakhri playing a war journalist and who finally seems at ease in front of a camera.
Quiz master and TV producer-turned-actor Siddharth Basu is a poor choice for Robin Dutt, Abraham’s boss, while TV journalist Dibang is credible in a cameo as an informer. Madras Cafe is an ambitious project bringing together espionage, civil war and political undercurrents and Sircar has done justice to it.
Whether it is real weapons like the Berettas and AK-47s being used or Sri Lanka being recreated in Thailand and Southern India or serene landscapes which turn bloody at a trigger-touch, Sircar has left no stone unturned to unravel his plot at a rapid pace. He makes no excuses for dumb audiences and refuses to explain the obvious. As a result one is left marvelling at the editing by Chandrashekhar Prajapati and the narrative runs back and forth, without losing its seamlessness.
Key moments — such as the shooting of Singh’s wife Ruby; or the impatience of some guerilla cadre (dispatched to do away with Singh) is reflected in only tapping of the knuckles — are handled with finesse and subtlety. No unnecessary music mars these scenes and sound design complements the quietude of the placid sea, contrasting the mood of one against the other.
Shatanu Moitra’s music and Kamaljeet Negi’s cinematography are definitely the high points of Madras Cafe. Make time out for this one.