Wonderful character development!

Truly Dreadful Film

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

First, all movies that glorify mass murderers like Mao and Che should come with a disclaimer just like the movies that show smoking do. Beyond that, this is a movie that operates on simplistic axioms of "Rich Bad, Poor good" and "Industry bad, Farming Good". An absurd plot line that hobbles along with equally unbelievable and sometimes stolen characters and totally SMH situations (a rich man that is kind when drunk and mean when sober is as old as Charlie Chaplin's 'City Lights'). An Oxford educated woman who jumps in a pond full of buffalos to retrieve a cricket ball, a politician's son who buys an entire tribe of zulu dancers and brings them to India, a man jumping off a crashing plane and parachuting himself directly to a scheduled town meeting- The list goes on. Unfortunately, over last decade, uppity movie-goers in India have sheepishly accepted that whatever Vishal Bharadwaj Makes Has got to be good — even when it is bad. There are some brilliant Moments - "Howzzat?", "Dekho magar pyar se" and "Gulabi Bhens" — but that is about it.

It is a wild, wacky, wicked satire that carries the unmistakable Vishal Bhardwaj signature. But it leaves you with mixed feelings. It isn't a big, bloated blockbuster wannabe. It has its daring share of moments that defy popular expectations. Despite the uneven quality of the ambitious narrative, Bhardwaj packs in just about enough quirky energy to make Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola generally watchable. Few filmmakers in Mumbai engage with ideas and issues of contemporary relevance as felicitously as Bhardwaj. He might have fallen short this time around, but even when he is not at his best, he is infinitely better than most in the business

MKBKM :: The latest gem from Vishal Bharadhwaj is a treat that leaves a 'delicious' taste long after you have left the theatre , its eccentricities , idiosyncrasies and the weird ass comical concoctions are the ones to savor for. Pankaj Kapur lords over everyone else and is very aptly supported by the scheming Shabana Azmi and the vivacious Anushka . Imran is okayish , Arya Babbar's a surprise ! :-) For those who loved Ishqiya, Shaitaan , Ata Pata Laapata and even GOW for that matter might like it, the movie aptly lends a couple of social messages too in its reel length of 150 minutes. Watch out for :: A drunk jet flight , Operation Mao-Mao, Azmi's monologue on corruption and a tipsy Anushka :-)P.S :: Welcome, the first hit of the year ! A 'Bhains' is just about to grunt, a 'Gulaabi bhains' to be precise ;-) ~~3.5*

The struggle between capitalism and socialism, industrialization and agriculture, the landlords and the farmers – this has been a perennial set of themes of many renowned bollywood films. Mother India, Naya Daur, and, in recent times, Lagaan and, to some extent, Swadesh easily come to mind. It is not a coincidence that all of these films have won some prestigious nominations and some awards. It is also not a coincidence that all of them have gained some amount of international recognition. In MBKM, Vishal Bhardwaj interprets this old theme in his own way, and gets to prove himself (once again) as a director who can produce breathtaking visuals and seamless sequences that create a high level of entertainment value. Mandola (Pankaj Kapoor) is a capitalist who develops into a communist when he is drunk. Matru befriends Mandola's communist alter-ego and heads a socialist-communist movement of farmers. Mandola's lady love and her son, on the other hand, try to tap into Mandola's capitalist personality. Both sides try to win the game by trying to rope in the lovely heroine 'Bijlee' on their side. The film attains an allegorical level here, since 'Bijlee' (read: Electricity) has always been used as a tool of exploitation by the capitalists. The film presents stunning visuals where the rich use electricity in an extravagant manner in celebrations, in construction, in building constructions, and in industrial activities. The farmers, on the other hand, are still susceptible to lack of technologies are entirely vulnerable to rainfall and other powers of nature. Unlike the fictionalized victory of the world sans technology (Naya Daur, Swadesh, Lagaan), the farmers in MKBM only win by some entertaining games, and only when the communist alter-ego of Mandola supports them.