Madras Cafe - Film Review

The Bollywood industry is all about garnering mass appreciation by whatever means, which has given rise to the breed of mindless comedies and masala entertainers in the recent times. But, in contrast, one of the crucial facts that cannot be ignored is the mindset of some intelligent brave heart filmmakers of the new millennium, who have time and again proved their guts and boldness by trying their hands in controversial genres.

One such newest example is Shoojit Sircar's new film Madras Cafe, a devastating drama of war violence conspiracy and betrayal. The movie is a very brave, honest and genuine attempt and has been mired in controversies for its striking resemblance to real political events associated with the Sri Lankan civil war and the ideas of a rebel group.

Featuring John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri in the leads, Madras Cafe is a serious saga, set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan civil war. Madras Cafe is strong, gritty, explosive and sombre, that throws light on the brutal killings of the innocent Sri Lankan Tamils, in the late 80s and early 90s.

The credit for bringing Madras Cafe to the silver screen solely rests with John Abraham and he should receive a standing ovation for this. Political films are not easy to make, more so releasing them in theaters.

Well, John should have courted the Tamils too to have a smooth overall release. John has broken some records too in his political venture. He comes across as a fine actor, who was hiding behind the nonsensical masala movies but had given enough glimpses of an actor in Water (2005) and New York (2009). He also came across as a bold producer, who refused to give in to political bullying in Tamil Nadu.

Major Vikram Singh (John Abraham) is a RAW agent, who is assigned to go to Jaffana (Sri Lanka) to help bring political stability. He has a tough job apprehending Anna Bhaskaran (Ajay Ratnam), leader of a Tamil outfit LTF. In the course of his assignment, he meets Jaya Sahni (Nargis Fakhri) who is a British war correspondent. And slowly the plot unfolds. It is not only the war and political situation but there is a sinister plot of assassinating the former Prime Minister of India (Sanjay Gurbaxani).

Madras Cafe starts with the protagonist Vikram Singh (John Abraham) in a shocking and unrecognizable state of a drunkard, who was once the special Indian RAW officer. Singh narrates the story of the horrific experience that he had undergone, after he was appointed by the intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing to conduct covert operations in Sri Lanka shortly after the Indian Peace Keeping Force was forced to withdraw.

As he journeys to Sri Lanka, with the intention of disrupting a rebel group, he discovers the larger issue. What's the larger issue? and how does he uncover a conspiracy in the process? The protagonist gets caught in the Indo-Sri Lankan political conspiracy and turmoil, finally getting targeted by the groups.

Madras Cafe exposes the culture of violence that every nation bears, in which the only people who suffer are the commoners who seek only peace and happiness from their lives. Madras Cafe is an unquestionably impressive and well-thought out flick that reveals a lot of lesser-known facts about the Sri Lankan War and the pathetic plight of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka during the 80s.

Cinematography brings out the lush green scenery. The action scenes leave one right in the midst of battlefield. There are three mesmerizing songs that reflect on the ongoing happenings in the movie. Ajnabi tugs at the heart-strings, Sun le zara is effective in the war zone and Khud Se is like a dialogue with oneself.

The actors chosen to play LTTE leader V Prabhakarn (Ajay Ratnam) and Rajiv Gandhi (Sanjay Gurbaxani) need special mention as they bear uncanny resemblance to the characters they play. Anita Pratap too would be left comparing her life with Nargis's portrayal. The cast has been aptly chosen and they infuse life in their roles.

We get to see the best of John Abraham in Madras Cafe. He's just an excellent and very convincing in the role of a RAW officer. Nargis Fakhri gets saved from hindi dialogues finally and is seen in an absolutely new avatar in the film. She is much better than what we had last saw her in Rockstar.

Siddhartha Basu was outstanding, while Raashi Khanna doesn't get much opportunity to display her acting skills.

But, unnecessary political controversy created will certainly dent the box office collections but the question is hasn't this controversy also deprived the viewers to watch a well-executed movie that brings alive a crucial part of India's political history and shows a snuffed out young political life? It is definitely not the movie's loss but of the viewers. It goes without saying the movie will win many awards in the coming days.

John is a forerunner to change that brings in intelligent movies. Once in a while you watch such RAW and rustic movies that it is almost rare.

Overall, it is commendable to see once.