Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh
Ratings: 4 stars
Director Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab is a drug drama soars high on the wings of great performances by Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh. Udta Punjab opens with an unforgettable image of flight – a drug dealer from Pakistan flings across a crore-worth of heroin across the border, stretching his muscles and assuming the pose of a discus thrower.
Alia Bhatt, excellent as a Bihari migrant with brown make-up, steals the heroin and perilously decides to sell it herself. Alia Bhatt and Kapoor Khan seem to have memorised that memo and have attacked their roles with a rabid intensity. Meanwhile, drug-addled star rapper Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor) has created a song that rhymes “coke” with “cock”, and he and his entourage, including his uncle (Satish Kaushik), are too pleased with themselves to foresee the inevitable consequences.There’s a poignant scene in Udta Punjab in which a reformed roguish cop (Diljit Dosanjh) convinces a doctor (Kareena Kapoor Khan) to accompany him on a dangerous sting operation involving the shady drug world. “But I am a lady,” she exclaims. His retort goes something like this: “Sometimes ladies need to step up in a land where the men are high on drugs.” Also inevitable is the fate of Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh). An assistant police inspector who feeds on bribes from waving on trucks packed with narcotics, Sartaj is shaken out of his complacency only when his younger brother develops an addiction and lands up at a clinic run by the saintly Preet (Kareena Kapoor Khan). Singer and actor Dosanjh is endearing in his role as a reformed cop. He isn’t the quintessential muscled-up hero, but he knows a thing or two about making himself accessible to his viewers.
They are splendid in director Abhishek Chaubey’s film, a controversial drug drama based in Punjab that challenged India’s censor board for its proposed cuts. A good command over Punjabi will help you enjoy this film a lot more. For others, there’s always good old English subtitles. Director has done an outstanding job of showcasing Punjab’s drug-addled state. It’s not a pretty scene and he doesn’t shy away from showing ‘the land of five rivers’ as a glorious mess. Chaubey’s decision to put his characters through the wringer results in several beautifully performed sequences. Udta Punjab showcases the filmmaker’s strengths, including his ability to create complex and memorable characters within the framework of a realistic mainstream entertainer.
There are lengthy disclaimers in the beginning that claim that the state and the police have been fighting a valiant battle against drugs in Punjab and that the makers’ intention was not to depict any state in a bad light, but there’s no denying that the drug problem is a real one. Other bits are far too on-the-nose, which is perhaps to be expected in a movie that wants to make a big statement about the political connections that have converted Punjab into an open-air drug den. Lines such as “It’s not about you or me, it’s about Punjab” and a close-up of Diljit Dosanjh’s blood-smeared face restate the obvious, and do nothing to reveal the reasons for why vast pockets of the population prefer to be lost to reality rather than face it. However, the plunge into the hell-hole is ultimately too stretched to achieve its intended impact. Some ruthless editing was needed to strip the unwieldy narrative of its indulgences and trim the running time from 148 minutes.
Udta Punjab soars on the back of hard-hitting scenes and superb performances from its cast, but a shorter trip would have given the movie the kick it sorely needed to be counted as the definitive drama on the moral corruption of an entire society. Credit is due to Director Abhishek Chaubey for taking a grim subject and making it interesting. There are a few dull moments in the second half, but the climax packs a punch. The way the worlds of a cop, a heroin addict, a rock star and a doctor intersect is cleverly shown. It’s a Must Watch Movie This Weekend. After a longtime you be able to watch some Fantastic performances by Star cast. Hats Off to Director Abhishek Chaubey to make such an Film.
