Life…In A Metro
“Will this survive the Kingfisher litmus test?” asked Oz as we inebriated ourselves while hogging on some butter chicken at Ambala Dhaba. I was hesitant to respond because Vijay Mallya’s concoction has a tendency to strip your tolerance levels considerably. The last film we saw under the influence (Nishabd) had us running to save our tender brains from deterioration within 30 minutes. Fortunately, and finally, this time the hops have met their match!
Mallya ain’t got nothin’ on Anurag…Anurag Basu that is! “Anurag who?” you say? The Anurag previously known for xeroxing firang flicks for the ever so original Bhatts (Murder, Saaya). The Anurag who hinted at his ability to pack a punch with Gangster. If only he hadn’t succumbed to the producer’s safety net! But beware, for this time, there are no ifs, and no Bhatts, as the writer/director nails the bull’s eye with a film that is refreshingly funny, poignantly dramatic, and wholesomely captivating.
“Not again!” I said to myself when I first heard that Metro too was latching on to this new-found obsession with parallel narratives, most of which take great pains to forcefully interweave their plethora of characters and stories. Basu however kickstarts his screenplay by establishing the connection between his different stories right at the beginning, leaving the guesswork to his characters instead of the audience, so we can sit back and enjoy the drama. Humor is skillfully, subtlely, and consistently used to strike the perfect balance in a screenplay that juggles kitchen-sink realism with unabashed filmi style. Inspiration drawn from The Apartment is of little importance because it is Basu’s brilliant characterization and refreshing dialogs (Sanjeev Dutta) that are the real stars of Metro.
Irrfan Khan runs riot in an ensemble cast that thoroughly seems to enjoy their superbly developed characters, though one does feel for Shiny Ahuja who offers so much more potential than the demands of his one-dimensional role. The chemistry between the actors is a treat to watch, be it the dilapidating relationship between Shilpa Shetty and Kay Kay Menon, or the old-school romance between Nafisa Ali and the legendary Dharmendra who is dashing as ever in a touching portrayal of a man looking to reclaim the life he once chose to abandon. Konkona is brilliant as the aging virgin, desperate for a relationship though insecure. Subtly comic and touching, she is however overshadowed by the mastery of Irrfan who leaves the audience in splits, wanting for more through his spontaneity.
Bobby Singh’s skillful lensing paints a pretty Mumbai, while beautifully capturing the oscillating moods of each story. Akiv Ali’s splendid editing deserves special mention for Metro is superbly paced, with Anurag Basu ensuring that there is never a dull moment in what is a fairly lengthy film. Music is smartly woven into the narrative with Pritam and co making appearances as sutradhars in regular intervals with lyrical gems.
Though Life…In A Metro doesn’t quite manage to make a statement specific to its title (perhaps Mumbai city itself could have been used as a stronger character), it is a charming film that enthralls and emotes, leaving you with a smile. It falls in the grey, untapped area between mainstream and parallel (no pun intended) cinema – a film that dares to be real and filmy, dramatic, and funny, without overdoing it. Kudos to Anurag Basu for making an intelligible film that should be accessible and appreciable across a diverse audience. If we cannot appreciate this quality effort, we lose the right to crib about the dearth of quality in Hindi cinema.
The Kingfisher litmus test reads: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Tags: Acting, Cinematography, Dialogues, Direction, Editing, Production, Songwriting, Soundtrack
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Loved the film. Irfan-konkona track is complete paisa vasool and great performnace by both of them!! the scene where Irfan breaks down after his shaadi shopping is so funny and so natural. But I thought the real hero of the film is pritam as he makes an apperance every 10mins. Story is nothing new but superb screenplay,dialogues n performances!!
“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!”
Need to see it ASAP. Since it has two of my favs Irrfan and Konkona …
I luveeeeeeee the way Konkona says “Kutta paal loongi aur uskey saath zindagi guzaar loongi”
(Eng – I Will adopt a pet dog and spend the rest of my life with it)
KK…Irafan is HOWLARIOUS!!! from first scene to last scene…whenever he is there!!!
Phonix – u’ve confirmed what always known.. Irrfan has a funny side too !!!
By the way Vijay/phonix – how are Shrimaan Joshi and Kaykay in the film ???
And shiney ?? I found him intolerable in quite a few of his films … he has serious problems when he opens his mouth to pout the dialogues… IMHO
KK…shraman and kaykay…both r good. kaykay as expected.Though i dont like sharmann but even he is good. shiney…agree with u KK. always wonder how sudhir mishra got him to act so good in hazaroon khawshein aisi. may be he is director’s actor. he doesnt hav much to do here. so, its ok.
Guys, watched it yesterday…Absolutely recommend it…Really good..And Irfan Khan is hilarious…One thing is there, someone else in Irfan Khan and Konkona Sen’s characters would have have probably made a caricature of those roles…these two so brilliantly take it to the next level..the movie is worth watching for these two itself…
And guys..I am impressed with Shilpa Shetty as well..she was quite good…
Oh come on come on come on… tell about the probably first in Bollywood shot taking sequences… the camera placed outside the rear glass of the taxi focussing on the passengers as they speak, the amazing shot of the two roommates talking sitting on the window sill while half the screen is covered by a out-of-focuss busy mumbai street… the sharp dialogues and above all one of the rare screenplays that without a hesitation screams at you THIS IS AN INTELLIGENT SCREENWRITER!!! Yes… Anurag Basu hits the bulls eye…
Hi Vijay,
I too enjoyed Metro. I must make one correction though. The dialogues are written by Sanjeev Dutta. After a lont time it was refreshing to hear words which went underneath the surface of things. I am sure Anurag was part of the process but having known Sanjeev personally I can tell you that their is clear mark of his talent and how he himself sees life here in Mumbai.
Well, my opinion on Life in a Metro may be construed as opposing just for the sake of it. But i felt while watching the movie that Anurag made this movie just for the heck of it. Either he was too much under pressure to deliver the goods or he had no pressure at all–and that led to taking his audience for granted. For one the very byline One City-Endless emotions,sounded superficial, because it seemed only one emotionn of infidelity was playing with its offshoots of betryal,intrigue,guilt and remorse,throughout the various stories. I have appreciated Anurag’s earlier works especially Murder(though a lift) and Gangster specially. But it struck me that somehow Anurag chose to lift from indigenous films. Sharman Joshi’s track is Yes Boss(that itself was The Apartment. Dharmendra-Nafisa Ali track reminds one of Lage Raho Munnabhai track of romance, pangs of separation,longing and eventual union of senior citizen couple. Shilpa Shetty seems to be a characterisation of Anurag’s own heroine Mallika Sherawat in Murder. It seems heroines in our society have to be politically correct, ultimately. It also seems that Metro city like Mumbai or any other has no other issues except extramarital ones.
Honestly, the track that really made me sit through was Irrfan Khan-Konkana Sen’s. Irrfan Khan’s characterisation was so unpredictable and that added to its charm. Though the climax of his track reminded me of climax in Pyar ke Side Effects.
Another sequence that stood out was phone linkups at the call center.Though it made out girls,women as having nothing to do but have a fling on the sly,it was hilarious.
Somehow i felt sad about one of my favorite heroes of yesteryears-Dharmendra. He looked so out of synch and overwrought. I felt his charisma was missing.
And somehow the emotions that could move were missing in the movie. And for me that’s more important rather than the technical aspects.
Yeah I agree with the general opinion that the film is a good watch and I believe its pushing Bollywood in the right direction.
I’ll just mention a few things that did’nt go down too well-
-The taxi scene with Sharman/Kangana – Horrendous post prodn.
-Too much of the band – its a cool idea but I felt we saw too much of them. Some of it was pretty much like a horror show. wasn’t required.
-The cutting during the cafe conversation between Irrfan/Konkona – timing was off. I was not impressed with the edit either. Found the cutting on the drum beats very shallow.
Kanganas’ dialogue delivery – she should hire a personal accent therapist! I did’nt associate with her character either. Dumb. Without conviction.
-Dharmendra was a pleasure when he was introduced. He was painful later. Wish Garam Dharam had muscled his way through the old age home and not sneaked in and out.
What I liked –
-The background score – Good accoustic guitar work. Piano was also nice.
-The scene where Shiney takes Shilpa to his friends place. The treatment was slightly overdone but from Shilpa’s character POV it pretty much made her feel like a slut – the neon, the red/pink hit the spot! Also.. I’m not a Shilpa fan. She looks great in Sari and that too from behind… However this was Shilpa at her ’subtle’ best.
-As Oz mentioned the window shot – Lovely.
-Tight screenplay – Parallel narratives handled very well.
-Irrfan on the horse! Irrfan on the beach. Irrfan everywhere! He along with KK stole the show. Both their characters were well crafted.
-The fact that Shilpa doesn’t go with Shiney. Thank you Anurag for avoiding that travesty.
On the whole Mr. Basu has somehow pulled it off. Looking forward to his next – it seems he can only get better.
**spoilers ahead**
just got back from watching this one… finally, after a LONG time i’ve gotten paisa vasool from a hindi movie.. man oh man the dialogues… sanjeev dutta ^:)^ too good man!! especially the irrfan-konkona scene by the sea drinking beers.. “gaadi baahar nikalo” =)) it’s been a while since the audience has actually applauded with me (yes, usually i’m the only one) and this time it happened.. even the simple scene where shiney gets jostled in the train and almost kisses shilpa.. and she smiles.. brought a smile to my face.. elements of this movie and that were there thru the movie, but it was all so tightly woven in, that you didn’t care.. even the typical “filmy” ending with irrfan leaving his wedding and chasing konkona thru the city on his horse was completely pardonable, since the rest of the movie was so “real”.. the characters were picked out from any metro out there, and that’s what sold this movie for me. i hope the film does well.. i really hope it does well.
Some of the touches in the movie are so awesome that makes the entire effort damn well worth it.
1. the excellent use of Pritam n his band. Viz the shot where on a damp night Sharman walks out and they are on the other footpath humming a song.
2. a.Capturing the city in the rains. there’s something magical about mumbai when it’s raining. It’s a mix of romance and pathos.- which was exactly the mood of the movie.
2. b. Capturing the city amazingly. As oz mentioned – the roommates shot and the role of the city passing by as seen through the window.Again, Pure joy!
3. the dexterity and smoothness with which the plot moves from one track to the other. Ah! pure joy!
4. Finally the chemistry between all the actors.Very rare it is in a Hindi film where all the actors do more than just concentrate on their own characters – compliment their co – actor.(reminded me of the naseer-om-smita-shabana gang in the late 70s).Every actor comes across all the more strongly coz he’s given a nice push by his co-actor n vice-versa.
All this save one hitch – every character had his own story,his own history – told to us by in their own words or through their actions EXCEPT Kaykay’s character. Why is he such an MCP? Although one need not get answers to such questions always, but it makes it all the more fun when u get it.
Bahot bak bak ki maine.:d enuf for now.
Spoilers IN THIS COMMENT
It’s a very interesting point of discussion you have brought up – “Why is he [Kay Kay] such an MCP” in the film. I personally found that to be a very realistic treatment of the character. The fact is he is flawed. He is a chauvinist. His point of view is explained earlier itself in his first scene with Kangana through a voice over where he says he doesn’t feel what he is doing is wrong. But everytime he comes face-to-face with the fact that what he is doing may be wrong, the male chauvinism works as a defensive mechanism for him. It’s almost as if he is trying to justify what he is doing. Case in point is the scene where Kangana accuses him of using her and he immediately gets defensive and tries to turn the tables on her. He humiliates her in an effort to shy the focus of the flaw on his character. Same when Shilpa confesses that she has been seeing Shiny. Even though he has just admitted that he had an affair for 2 years, immediately he shifts focus from his flaw to his wife’s. Even at the end when he returns to Shilpa, its left very open ended in that we are never quite sure why he returned. Did he have a change of heart and realize his mistake and want to repent…or did he just do it because all of a sudden, this woman whom he left his wife and child for, now decides to go her own way? I liked the fact that Anurag Basu did not try to force a resolution out of every character. Sometimes people change based on one incident, but most of the time, a person will remain who she/he is. The change more often than not happens over a period of time instead of instantaneously.
[Comment deleted by editor]
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dear freinds,this is sanjeev dutta.i wrote the dialogues of this film. incidently i also co wrote PAGE-3.i can share few things if you want to ask.
Hi Sanjeev.Am very eager to know how did Irrfan’s Monty shape up. That character oozes a refreshing orginality. A seemingly perfect harmony between the script writer-actor-director coz of which we get to see a magically real character on screen.
Questions: How clear were you when you began writing dialogues for characters that weren’t created by you(considering Anurag Basu wrote the screenplay)What were the challenges you faced? How much did the actors add to their respective characters thru additional dialogues mannerisms etc?
PS. Oz.Hope I am allowed to ask such questions on the comments section.
Hey Sanjeev,
First of all, congratulations for writing a great film. Metro is simply awesome and i loved every moment.
I wanted to ask you about your start in the industry and also what advice you would give to just-starting -out writers.
kya yaar tum logon ne shiney ko bhi gaaliyan maari…not expected….
magar after HKA, we havnt seen shiney in his original form…….
but one thing, wen shiney explains why his wife left him, that explanation was real,
some how shiney always gets films where he is the looser in the end. right fr HKA to Gangtser and other lesser acclaimed movies…and again KK is his culprit….
i hav huge expectations frm him and will wait till eternity to see another gem in his CV…
by the way wat is his history? is he too a theatre actor or frm film insti
Hey Sanjeev a big congrats ya!! very well written film. sometimes they were too philosophical as people normally dont talk liek that but otherwise it was damn good. irfan-konkona got the best dialogues, i guess. and they did complete justice also.
gopi, please ask away.. the more thought-provoking questions for sanjeev, the better!
loved the film but Pritam and the Bong Gang……..alag album/music video bananeka paisa nahi tha kya??????????and why was the bangadeshi rock star making those faces???????koi use pergolas kharidke do???????? jagajagajaja…..[read like Angry Ganeshan yelling]
I in fact loved the way the music was woven in. I found that refreshing that they kept coming back in. They linked the stories together and of course the songs were great. Did not know they were Bangladeshi. Can you provide more info on that? I do agree, the dude with the crazy hair did not quite have to make the constipated expressions, but what the hell. It’s all cool.
Vasan, Have been talking to many about the film. And the biggest divide between the viewers is over how the songs are portrayed.
Everyone loves the movie. But the difference of opinion is over the way the songs are played.
Now there’s one interesting thing to note. Most – if not many – who did not like the song picturizations are regular watchers of MTV/Video song channels in India, while those who liked the song depictions are “Not” too big on it. This may just be a stupid analysis… but that’s what I’m getting so far. But the other factor, which a close friend mentioned yesterday, over not liking the song depictions, is that it cut the emotional attachment he had in the story, each time a song came up.
I fell in love with the way Anurag has used the songs… it gave me a lighter moment, to free a bit… and the point was to flow with the song and hum them as they played along… In fact I thought it was one of the most intelligent experiments Basu has tried in the movie.
My first reaction on Metro was that it is one of the most intelligent screenplays written in recent times. Darn… I need to go and write about this on DT.
Sanjeev bhai, mast dialogs likhela hai. Mazaa aa gaya! Very clever lines. My only complaing was that the subtitles did not to justice the dialogs at all. I don’t need subtitles but I have a few non-Hindi speaking friends who saw the film and the humor really didn’t come through.
Some dialogs are very culturally and linguistically specific so it’s hard to subtitle appropriately, but more time could have been spent to make it impactful. I had the same issues with the subtitling for Omkara.
yeh the long haired guy is a Bangladeshi pop singer, James…he also the sung the song from gangster….bhegi bhegi si hai raatien…
At Cinemax, Sion where I was watching the audience were almost in splits whenever they came on the screen….in fact after a while when they began to pop up every 25th frame it became really amusing….initially even i thought it was a good ploy……..I think they might have just worked for me personally if they had been given a sprinkled appearance like they gave the band in “there is something about Mary”…..this just plain made me laugh…loved the songs…but I would prefer to hear them……
Oz the analysis is interesting…..as written above i would have loved it if they appeared less…..like i LOVED IT for sure…..I liked them coming on during the end credits esp. as we see shiney break down and they bring the house down with KAR SALAM…that was superb…a few happy endings…one not so….the women taking a stand for the family…life goes on…Kar Salam …that was metro for me..that was mumbai…the sprit….SUPERB ANURAG BASU…I think they could ahve been used better…caue they were shot well and a novel concept for indian cinema….[well we have had them before for sure...hero walking on street and a banjara group singing...so many of them..the earliest I remember which even spooked me was ....Yeh zindagi ke mele...afsoos hum na honge.....]
It’s a wonderful song they closed with. Oz kept singing Kar Salaam all weekend as “Garshanaaaaaa”.
Ok Oz this is for you….
“kyun jindagi se ho shikava gila – 2
yeh hasati hai roti hai, jo bhi hai jaisi hai
jo bhi yeh deti hai woh hai ???
kar salaam – 4
nakhre utha isake nakhre utha – 2
haan dhoop bhi hai yeh, chhaanv bhi hai yeh
jo bhi yeh deti hai, tu maan ja
kar salaam – 4
kho jaana, pa jaana, na paana, hai jindagi jaane le
bik jaana, loot jaana, bass jaana hai jindagi maan le
ho ho ho karle yakin, jo kal gaya woh phir se aata nahin
ho ho ho gujra huva jo waqt hai woh dastak lagaata nahin
jo aaj hai bass wahi hai tera – 2
ha kya teri hasti hai, mitti ki basti hai
pal mein hi ho jaati hai yeh fanaa
kar salaam – 4
kyun jindagi se ho shikava gila – 2
yeh hasati hai roti hai, jo bhi hai jaisi hai
jo bhi yeh deti hai woh hai ???
kar salaam………..”
Thanks Vasan… playing it on my laptop as I write this… Garshanaaaaaa….
OZZie,
the scenes u mentioned appears to be composited!!
actually, quite a few simple scenes appear to be composited.
the day light scenes somehow gave it away!
1. sharman – kangana dialogue in the taxi after her suicide
2. the konkana in auto – irffan chase
the night scenes are far better done (if at all they too were composited)
DPac, I did not notice it during the first viewing because I was so into the story. The second time I watched it, I did notice both the shots you mentioned. I thought it was ok. Didn’t bother me too much. Way better than the composited shots in Bunty Aur Babli train scenes.
Vijay, Dont get me wrong. they are done well. I was wondering why they did it the way they did it at all. Also whether they composited the night shots as well. Mebe Sanjeev Dutta saaab can fill us in on this.
since they could carry off the shiny/shilpa taxi rig shot, the other shots could easily have been done without the composites.
My guess is the Sharman-Kangana dialog was probably shot inside a sound stage to avoid the hassle of putting on a rig and driving the cab through traffic. But for the Konkona scene, it seems strange because there was no dialog involved and it was a pretty straightforward shot. It was almost like a split screen. My guess is the background where Irrfan is was probably out of focus or incorrect in what they shot, so they shot it separately and popped it in. Speculation, not fact.
yeah must be ’sound’ considerations like you said
I dont think sound was the issue. The dialog was not sync sound. Everything sounded like ADR. We call them sound stages here where you shoot in an internal studio set where you can control the lighting and sound. They may be called something else in other parts of the world.
that was what i meant vijay.
konkana scene is a dead giveaway cuz of the blue light spillovers on the fringes
Dear Sandeep Duttaji,
Arre Bhaisaab,
After giving a brief appearance on comment 15, where the hell have you disappeared?????????
Metro has earned about Rs. 3.5 Crores ($786,000) worldwide (including India) according to weekend reports. I expect it to pick up on word of mouth through this week and weekend. This weekend will have 3 low key releases – Ek Chalis Ki Last Local, The Challenge, and Raqeeb, none of which really pose any serious threats. So given that situation, it would be worth UTV’s energy to market and publicize more aggressively over the next few days. Perhaps even expand the number of screens. Through this week and next is the only time UTV can salvage something out of the theatrical run because after that on May 25th, Shoot Out At Lokhandwala and Cheeni Kum will eat all its business away.
@Vijay
Any idea how much they spent on Metro?
AM
Aman I have been trying to find out, but have not been successful. I don’t think the official figures have been release anywhere. Not online at least.
i can safely reveal now. anurag and dialogue writer both played roles in the film.anurag is the guy who interrupts shilpa-shiney lovemaking by knocking at the door .sanjeev dutta is the guy who says-jo file aap wednesday ko dene wali the….in rescheduling sequence.and i can tell you both are horrible actors.
now now.. not everyone has seen anurag act, but if we can go by reliable sources, then i do believe he himself is quite the dhansoo actor… ab yeh sanjeev dutta ka pata nahi.. phillum phir se dekhni padegi ;) (dunno about sanjeev dutta.. will have to watch the film again) jk man.. that whole sequence was so hilarious i didn’t watch for the individual actors, but if you are who i think you are, you did well.. keep doing those
>-
Sanjeev, please check your email!
As always, I am late :(
I saw this film last night and absolutely loved it.
I too loved the way the music was woven in. It is true that James makes some strange faces (LOL @ constipated expressions) but I don’t mind them because for me, the beauty of the songs and the way they were presented are much more important.
Like Oz, I also felt that the songs gave a lighter moment to free a bit.
Like for many others, Konkona and Irrfan stole the show for me too. But as much as I hated Kay Kay’s character, I must admit he is outstanding in his role.
Loved Sharman Joshi’s performance too and I must say this is the first time Kangana didn’t get on my nerves.
Yes, the chemistry between the actors was amazing.
Definitely one of the films I most enjoyed this year.
Again, I am pissed with the lack of subtitles in the additional features on the DVD ~X(