Direction: Shoojit Sircar
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes
Straight up, Madras Cafe couldn't be more different to director Shoojit
Sircar's Vicky Donor. Political, tense, finally explosive, Madras Cafe
is no picnic in the neighborhood park. Major Vikram
Singh (Abraham lands in Sri Lanka,
heading RAW's covert operations. He must
work with colleague Bala to get Anna Bhaskaran (Rathnam),
head of the rebel LTF group - "Also known
as Tigers" - to accept a peaceful
resolution. Vikram knows Anna will be a
huge challenge - what surprises him is
how many others he must face.
Madras Cafe dives boldly into terrain
Bollywood hasn't touched before. Its
arsenal features research, respect and
bravely, no songs. But it's not arty or
preachy anywhere. Its first half is layered,
complex trails - leaks, foreign interests, domestic rivals - slowly revealed to
Vikram. As RAW boss Robin Dutt (Basu)
ups the pressure, Vikram must move fast
through sultry, dangerous airs. His foreign
journalist friend Jaya (Fakhri, apparently
playing real-life journalist Anita Pratap, who first interviewed LTTE chief
Prabhakaran) knows this conflict's heart
even better than Vikram, whose
discoveries, from Sri Lanka to South Block,
grow traumatic.
Madras Cafe's true star is its story which
builds up to an agonizing end. It brings to
life the Lankan war which many viewers
were too young to have known. It
highlights India's ambiguous role, moving
sensitively, taking no sides, except those of relationships involving
respect - but no
romance - between Vikram and Jaya,
duty, victory and loss. Its second half
grows more fraught and taut,
conspiracies and compulsions becoming
clearer. John stays low-key and competent as Vikram while supporting
actors, like agents Bala, SP and Vasu,
stand out. Restrained performances by
the LTF suicide bombers are chilling.
The cinematography is remarkable, shots
of huge naval warships, helicopters
floating across hills, sunshine on a deadly
sea, haunting. Commendably, Sircar never
overindulges in gore, keeping Madras Cafe a shifting site of mental
violence. Madras Cafe deserves an extra half-star
for guts, going for the gunpowder - but
with a restrained hand.
Note: If you like typical Hindi movie
masala, unrealistic action or melodrama,
this movie is not for you.
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