Madras Café Movie Review

Madras Cafe

Madras Cafe

Starring: John Abraham, Nargis Fakhri, Rashi Khanna, Siddhartha Basu

Directed by: Shoojit Sircar

Music: Shantanu Moitra

Time and again Bollywood has come up with a number of politics based movies which have been acclaimed by the film fraternity as well as the audience. It seems like politics has fascinated our film makers to a great extent. Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café is yet another spectacle on one of the most prolonged issues in the politics of India- the issue of the Sri Lankan Tamils which culminated into the death of Rajiv Gandhi. It is an unbiased account of the events that took place in the Sri Lankan turmoil that ran for 23 years.

Plot: The film is a narrative of an Indian Officer who is sent to Sri Lanka on a covert mission to probe the complexities of the Sri Lankan civil war, only to discover some deeper conspiracies.

Performances:  John Abraham proves to be the right choice for the role of an Indian Officer. He has outdone all his performances to become one of the most refined actors of Bollywood. His maturity as an actor is clearly reflected in his performances.

Nargis Fakhri looks confident and impressive as a war correspondent. She does fairly well in her short screen presence.

Debutant Rashi Khanna manages to make a mark as an Army officer’s wife. Though her brief appearance doesn’t let her prove much as an actress.

All the supporting actors have done a phenomenal job in bringing the accentuating the strength of the film.

Music:  Though there isn’t any special picturisation of the songs in the movie, it has a full-fledged soundtrack that goes well with the theme of the movie. The songs are unconventional just as the movie itself.  Composer Shantanu Moitra has produced an interesting soundtrack with a slow tempo.

What’s good: The script of the movie touches upon one of the most serious issue that has been lost in the books of history. The performances are impressive and effective enough to consolidate the script. The monologue is finely edited bringing out the events aptly. The  best thing about Madras Cafe is that it does not favour any group, it favours humanity.

What’s bad:  Since the movie depicts war scenario, there is a lot of bloodshed and violence that seems distressing.

Madras Café is a captious political drama that brings out a thought-provoking scenario of the Indian politics. It is a bold and unexaggerated depiction of an issue that very less of us must have been aware of. The film definitely deserves big round of applause for its execution! Films like Madras café are only made once in a while and should definitely be watched.

Verdict: A very skillful narration that definitely deserves appreciation!

Rating: ****