Review of Madras Cafe (2013) by Aditya M — 02 Sep 2013

It is an immensely courageous thing in India's hypersensitive political environment to be able to make a movie based on such a fresh and controversial topic as the clash between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. To go a step ahead and portray India's geopolitical machinations in this matter is supreme bravery, considering the artists involved are almost sure to face a spate of hate speeches, effigy-burning and the like. The director also manages to shoot warfare settings (guerrila hideouts in the jungle, tanks, helicopters, naval destroyers etc.) far more convincingly than I can remember seeing in an Indian movie. In this regard, 'Madras Cafe' treads a lot of new ground in Indian cinema.

However, as a political thriller, the film comes up short. The narration is sloppy and clumsily handled. Shoojit Sircar has tried to give the 'Argo' treatment to this movie, but unliike Ben Affleck, he does not know how to arrange a story like this. How do you keep a narrative interesting when you have given the ending away at the beginning? Instead of letting the story simmer to a boil, he is constantly forcing the temperature with a string of twists and reveals. These minor conflicts that keep arising in the story are not allowed to develop, and are dissolved almost instantly. For example, (minor spoiler), our hero gets kidnapped, but two minutes later we are shown his rescue and return home. This lack of narrative instinct robs the film of any real suspense, although there certainly are some fine moments of tension, particularly towards the climax.

Another weak point is the acting. John Abraham is as wooden as ever, but the supporting cast is shamefully amateurish. I often had the feeling I was watching a rehearsal for a high school play. Part of the problem here is the dialogue, which is badly stilted since most characters switch uncomfortably between Hindi and English, with snatches of Tamil thrown in. Why not have the Tamilians speak Tamil and provide subtitles? A little linguistic discipline would have gone a great way towards establishing realism.

All in all, I certainly don't regret watching 'Madras Cafe'. It is a very nifty piece of work that could have been assembled a little better.