Inadvands Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Chonesday It's one of the most original films you'll likely see all year, which, depending on your threshold for certifiably crazy storylines, could be a rewarding experience or one that frustrates you.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

rahuljonathan-nair It is a wild, wacky, wicked satire that carries the unmistakable Vishal Bhardwaj signature. But it leaves you with mixed feelings. It isn't a big, bloated blockbuster wannabe. It has its daring share of moments that defy popular expectations. Despite the uneven quality of the ambitious narrative, Bhardwaj packs in just about enough quirky energy to make Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola generally watchable. Few filmmakers in Mumbai engage with ideas and issues of contemporary relevance as felicitously as Bhardwaj. He might have fallen short this time around, but even when he is not at his best, he is infinitely better than most in the business

Hardik Bhoir When there is a Name like VISHAL BHARDWAJ associated with a Project like this movie , there is a lot of expectations and hopes of excellent cinema with a collage of characters that a cine-goer expects. Sadly that only reflects in the second half (Addha) of the movie. First half is a waste of time where lot of screen time given to Mandola (well acted) and the character buildup but barring a few comic scenes of Mandola first half is a let down. Second half deals with current and ongoing situation of our own developing country, Farmers are manipulated to sell their land to govt by playing murkier politics. Second half is fast paced,dirtier,dark, witty and disheartening. The farmers issue in the movie is an eye-opener. Of the Cast , Pankaj Kapur as Mandola is simply excellent, Shabana Azmi as Manipulative Politician and Imran Khan as MAtru aka MAO have done a decent job. The show stealer is of course Pankaj Kapur but overall Package of the movie is not as expected of Vishal Bhardwaj.. i rate this movie 6/10 only for the Pankaj Kapur and the excellent Second Half.

sashank_kini-1 An attempt to adapt the great Bard from stage to silver screen has to be immaculate and without any compromises in the style of representing the characters and their situations. In the second half of Matru Ki Bijlee ka Mandola, director and scriptwriter Vishal Bharadwaj seems to enter into 'Shakespeare' mode, staging the scenes, setting the score and filming the characters in a highly Shakespearean style, and we sense how much he must've awaited to do it 'his way'. Because in the first half, for the sake of retaining the audiences, Bharadwaj compromises some of his skill by not keeping it consistent with 'his' way in the second part – while the first part leans more towards realism, the second becomes very stylized and characters who had both shades of black and white later fell either into black (i.e. bad guys) or white (good guys). I for a change thought that this film deserved to have a stylized approach, considering Bharadwaj's forte of skillfully adapting Shakespeare in his previous films such as Maqbool and Omkara (haven't seen them but my parents have hailed both films). Even the background sounds have been used as a motif in the second part, such as the scene where thunder is heard with every promise the character Mandola makes to the Machiavellian Chaudhari Devi; such an effect is usually very cheesy but it works especially well for that particular scene. Now Bharadwaj is one of the few Indian directors whose movies I generally look forward to watch; in Vishal's case, it isn't because I have seen all his previous films, but it is more because I liked Saat Khoon Maaf for its interesting concept and from then looked forward to new and intriguing films from the director. MKBKM's promos were especially memorable for the two catchy songs and great choreography of the same in the videos, and the hard-to-remember-harder-to-forget title. Its trailer was not really generous in giving much plot information, and that was done most probably to attract more audiences who would think the movie is plainly a well shot love story. But MKBKM is not all that plain; its characters are not simply there to laugh and rejoice – they have their own ambitions and they use either good or bad means to achieve those ambitions. Mandola (Pankaj Kapur) is a millionaire who wishes to get his daughter Bijlee (Anushka Sharma) married to female politician (played by Shabhana Azmi) Chaudhari Devi's son Badal (Arya Babbar), but his main ambition is to establish factories in place of farms by capturing the SEZ meant for farmers and he takes Chaudhari Devi's help for that. Mandola however has an alter ego that arises whenever the man is very drunk; this alter ego shares the opposite ideology of millionaire Mandola – he is on the farmers' side. Bijlee is eager to marry Badal but she is also attached, first as a friend and then you-know-what to Mandola's man Friday Matru (Imran Khan). Matru is a JNU graduate who returns to his village to protect the interests of the farmers, fight against Mandola's power albeit using Mandola's alter ego. Chaudhari Devi is the politician who shall use any wrong means to gain her the highest position in the society, and her main intention is to get her son married to Mandola's daughter and then take over the land. Badal is her puppet in crime, a reckless, spoilt brat who is completely aware of her mother's schemes and supports them like a cheerleader. The villagers have 'Mao' to give them hope and guidance in achieving their aim to protect their land while the police have Mandola's and Chaudhari Devi's open support in imposing unfair conditions to make the villagers yield. Yes and there is the mysterious Gulaabi Bhains, a figure that arrives each time Mandola tries controlling his drinking. There are so many elements in the plot that echo 'Shakespeare', like Mandola's dual personality which also reminded me of the millionaire's character in Charlie Chaplin's famous 'City Lights'. Some may be startled to watch characters like Gulaabi Bhains in movies, but they would be the ones who have not touched Shakespeare or those other epics of the past. The character also reminded me of an old movie named 'The Lost Weekend' where the protagonist (a drunk writer) began seeing bats . Chaudhari Devi is a pure Shakespeare villain like Iago, an absolute snake played effortlessly by Shabana Azmi whose black eye makeup makes her appear all the more ruthless and intimidating.The problem I had was with Bijlee and Badal's characters: while Badal is played very well by Arya Babbar, it is the script that makes his character very funny in majority of the first half, a little too funny for a person whom the audience should not be rooting for. Bijlee on the other hand is played by the feisty Anushka Sharma: I felt that, and I don't intend to sound like a MCP here, her character, like the rest of the cast is too lively, which made the movie have no person to counterbalance the intensity of the rest of the characters. I personally would've wanted Bijlee to be more demure, readily consenting to her father's wish but being attracted to Matru nevertheless. I think Shakespeare did exactly that in Hamlet with Ophelia, and see the effect: when Ophelia lost her sanity after hearing her father's death, we could identify with the helplessness. It would've been more satisfying seeing a shy Bijlee actually becoming a feisty Bijlee and living up to her name. There is a short scene between Matru and a female friend from college, and I thought Vishal could've cast her as Bijlee. Pankaj Kapur is the first Indian actor I've seen who can play a drunkard convincingly. Again I thought the 'factory establishment' dream should've been Chaudhari Devi's vision and not Mandola's. A man with such big dreams wouldn't have a change of heart so easily.

pavan ladkani Awesome movie. At a few instances you'd feel disconnected or might ask why. But as it progresses, it all makes sense and that too in a humorous way, unlike the boring stuff you get from the conventional movie makers. VB gets it right once again, and gets in something new as is expected of him. You can't predict what's gonna happen next, which is one of the most important aspects of great movies. People might tend to compare this one too, as they do with other normal movies, but this has a class of its own, and more so with big names like F0X in Indian industry now, cinematography takes no compromises either. All in all, again - awesome movie, great effort and Bravo sir - VB. You get us yearning for more.