Director's Desk

I think we shouldn’t see this mirror in any critical manner; some perspective has bigger pain than analyzing the film. Our thrust should never be to torn something. Omung Kumar’s Sarbjit is a second biopic after Mary Kom which was not as deep like this, basically I was very disappointed with Mary Kom, Though this comeback is certainly not his best but it’s strong. I admire Omung Kumar for making Sarbjit alive once again in our moist eyes. Every biopic already has enough strength to convert into a good visuals whether it’s a story of a sports person or some politician or even business tycoons but very few has heart breaking quench and Sarbjit falls in this category. How he languished for more than two decades as a prisoner in Pakistani jail, convicted for espionage and bomb attack.

Almost every Indian knows about Sarbjit and how his life made news headlines here, which exuded his life in diplomatic monsoon. Screen opens with a search of Sarbjit dissolved into a beautiful backdrop of Punjab, where Director started back from 1984, how Sarbjit’s family happily moving with their small wishes. Here we saw a tragic story of his sister Dalbir Kaur but we suddenly moved to the main storyline. Over all 1^st half was little howling, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who is playing Sarbjit’s sister role was sometimes over dramatic, why Director wants her to scream, please do not do it, her beautiful face is not just to yell, she has more depth than that. But after interval when suffering gets some light automatically our senses start fighting with the emotional jolts.

Basically through Sarbjit’s sister we saw this journey but at the same time the negation of humanity, senseless political system and never ending fight of a normal people. One can easily understand the feeling of a family who is battling against all odds and the person who don’t know why he is in prison and for what he has been punished for so long.

Randip Hooda is at his best, I am watching him since ‘D’ and I must appreciate his endeavor that lingers him in a good league of actors. Richa Chadda played his wife’s role, she is not very vocal but her silence makes you cry for sure, a shot when Dalbir Kaur attempts suicide, the performance she delivers is a crux of her acting skills. Cinematography is good, some shots are memorable, the one where we have 1^st encounter with the cage of Sarbjit.

May this film looks little lengthy but suffering is endless.              

Based on a true event, this story is known to many, for already defined destination, Need and needy are set but the only thing is not manifested is journey, so despite all these predictable elements #Traffic is perfect homage to its Director Late Rajesh Pillai who manages to bring some enticing twists which certainly disquiets you for moments, coerce us to hold our breaths. It is really tough to hold the audience who already aware of the result. But believe me he broke the barrier and drove his vehicle smoothly.

I don’t want to discuss flaws; my concern is to greet this, which gave me an emotional treat, it’s kind of a multi-starrer film but not Star with Super tags, it’s a multi – most-underrated-artists film. Every character looks so authentic and properly drawn that compels you to believe in them whether its Prasenjit Chatterjee as an arrogant super star Dev Kapoor, or a helpless but very caring mother Divya Dutta or Mr. Manoj Bajpayee as traffic cop, or Jimmy Shergil, they all tied-up in a way that flung some outstanding colors to the screen. Kittu Gidwani after so long in her small role brings more sense to it.

This film is just like jammed traffic, has many threads and layers in the belly, all unknown characters living in a different time and space just brought together to accomplish one mission. But they all have some past or even running stories behind them, some are gruesome some may be blatant, nevertheless, in spite of having so much flying threads it is knitted into very convincing screenplay. And last but not the least Director Rajesh Pillai eliminates all traffic lights to give this a memorable journey for himself and for us.

Sometimes tears rolled for failure, sometimes it spills-out from pride but in both the ways it comes-out naturally and I tasted it in all circumstances and I believe that it tastes much sweeter when it flows down with pride.

NOTE: I am sure this film does the same with you. But it leaves us with one very pertinent question, What if it happens with someone who is Poor, Ordinary, Middle class citizen of the country?