Review of Life in a Metro (2007) by Private U — 03 Dec 2008

This film is all about Strife in the Metro that is Mumbai! My favourite city - I love films set in Mumbai as they provide a resident's view of city life, something that I don't get. However the city isn't the star of this movie -Metro gives an insight into city life in a different way. We get an insight into the lives of very different residents of Mumbai who are all linked to each other.

Films with many stories running parallel are becoming more popular with scriptwriters, however it must be difficult to develop every character fully. In Metro, most of the characters are well developed and all have some sort of impact on the audience (be it negative or positive). The characters develop in the just-over-two hours duration of the movie so that we connect with them - we hate Kay Kay, sympathise with Shilpa, are endeared to Irrfan and want the best for Konkona.

Actors... Kay Kay is without a doubt a class performer and can enact any role with ease, and he's actually quite hot too! Negative roles really suit him - I would now consider him in the bracket of 'character actors' based on some of his past roles. Shilpa is also very believable, and has done a fab job. Konkona - it goes without saying! Fantastic! Especially in the scene where she is shouting on the rooftop with Irrfan - a man I usually find so annoying, but was sweet in this movie (I state grudgingly). Sharman Joshi is perfect in his role as the call centre executive who is trying to honour his father - I pitied his situation, and it was great to see him stand up for himself and regain his honour at the end. He looks really good in this movie - someone's been workin' out! I am a big fan, but had him down as only multi-starrer material, but maybe after this he'll be seen in a solo-hero project? Kangana and Shiney had the weakest characters and they also act the least well - strange, as Anurag Basu got alot out of them in Gangster. The chemistry between Shiney and Shilpa is electric!

For me, this film had a better script than the other films with parallel stories - the stories were linked very well - especially compared to Salaam-e-Ishq, in which I found the links too tenuous.

The music really suits the film, and it's quite cool that the band keep popping up (v unique) but whyyyyyy do they come at the end and spoil the climax in the train station??!! It really takes away from it! Still, Pritam delivers yet again!

There are no A-list actors in the movie, limiting the market (especially overseas - unless you count the Shilpa situation here), but the film deserves to do well - it's modern without being too in-your-face, and straddles both the commercial and alternative classes of film. It should do well in the cities in India - hopefully the multiplex crowd will go see it!

The idea of premieres across the globe was great - Bollywood is really becoming massive on a global level! It's really exciting from the pov of regular Bollywood-goers like me! Let's hope that more films worthy of global premieres are seen in this way too.

I think it's one of the best Bollywood movies of the year so far!