Cast: Irrfan Khan, Jimmy Sheirgill
Directed By: Nishikant Kamat
Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars
Aptly titled Madaari, the film relates the relationship between the madari (street performer) that has the power and makes the jhamoora (sidekick) dance to his tunes to that of the system controlling the common man.
There are some movies which grip your attention right from the beginning, whereas others take time to build on you. Madaari definitely belongs to the latter. The first half of Madaari is atmospheric and effective. A random stranger kidnaps the son of India’s Home Minister. That incident creates political inertia, where the government goes into damage control and disinformation, while the media and the opposition get into release of information. The investigation makes the crux of the narrative, the random stranger’s odd demands add a punch to the story. As it turns out, the random stranger is Nirmal (Irrfan Khan) who’s lost his son in a tragedy and now he wants the truth. Loosely based on a real-life incident of an overhead under-construction bridge collapsing on Andheri – Kurla Road, the film is imbued with flavours of corruption, political agendas, death, and the revenge of a common man. The director has tapped well into the direst of human emotions, and delivered a film that acts as an outlet of suppressed human emotions.
Madaari is a game of misdirection and deception. The far-fetched second half features Nirmal leading the investigators on and the commanding officer Nachiket (Jimmy Sheirgill) trying to outwit him. It eventually leads onto a dramatic climax where all the truths are revealed. But the misdirection and twists become a bit too theatrical and dramatic. Madaari speaks about the struggle of a middle-class individual, who rubs his forehead in distress when the price of daal soars too high. He never concerns himself with the affairs of the state, because he is way too engulfed in his own life. It’s also this same man who turns menacingly calculative when his small world is turned upside down.
Despite its honest appeal, Madaari is a flawed film. The main problem is that where the treatment of the film by director Nishikant Kamath should’ve been subtle, like the dialogue driven conversations of his screenplay, his choices are the exact opposite. He chooses to engage the drama with loud blaring background music with thundering effects that you’d expect from a Michael Bay film. Needless to say, Irrfan once again proves his acting prowess – he deftly brings out the vulnerability and strength that Nirmal’s character demands. The way he handles grief, anger, humour and frustration all in effortless fashion is remarkable. Jimmy Sheirgill playing the wily tough cop is good too.
This particular theatrical treatment becomes all the more obvious in the second half, robbing the film of moments that could break your heart. Instead, you sit there and marvel at a no-holds-barred climax where a lot of actual political truth is revealed in a jingoistic tone. Child actor Vishesh Bansal is equally brilliant. He holds his ground firm even in front of an actor of Irrfan Khan’s stature. Delivering subtle punches, he is the perfect foil to Irrfan’s Nirmal in certain scenes. The storyline, however, could have been a bit more compact, and had loose ends at certain places. Post interval, and until the climax build-up, there are some sequences that the film could have done without. A thriller with a social message, entertainment, emotions and moments of light heartedness, the cocktail is rare. Also, the film strongly taps the importance and acknowledges the prowess of social media as a potent tool in today’s world. Surely the film has its share of negatives, but it’s a great watch for the infrequent genre it brings and for its intent. So definitely, Madaari is a must watch Film with your Family this weekend.
