Review of Well Done Abba (2010) by Hiran K — 07 Mar 2011

In an industry that's increasingly skewing towards depiction of the Indian yuppies, it's refreshing to watch a simple story set in the heart of the country. Satire often employs exaggeration in order to mock the system, but what's interesting, and sad, about the movie is that a lot of things in the story is actually very much plausible in that region. For instance, the very much real irony of the proliferation of mobile technology in a village that has water scarcity and still must use primitive methods like building wells. To modify a dialogue in the movie, whether or not every poor man's house has food, it definitely has a cellphone.

Boman Irani plays (well, one of the character he plays) a meek, by-the-law common man to comic perfection as he appeals through a chain of command of corruption just so he could build a well in his field. Of course, as one would expect, that by the time he's done paying off all the "diwalis, dussheras, ghantas" (I LOLed forever at these) to various government officials, there's not enough money left from the grant to build his well. Except by all official records, a well was built. The writers make such an excellent play on that absurdity in what happens next.

Hyderabad and its hinterland aren't usually portrayed in Bollywood, so it was great to watch how its depiction via the Benegal touches of realism. It was disappointing that he didn't take more vigorous advantage of Chikatpali in showing the unique culture of Muslims in southern India. I was, though, impressed by the colloquial Hindi, as well at how most of the actors seemed at ease with speaking it. I'm not a fan of Boman Irani's brand of scenery-chewing, but this time it really works with his cluelessly affable character. Minissha Lamba needs to get more roles over all the vapid barbie dolls in Bollywood. The delightful supporting cast must also be mentioned.

The movie does falter in various points along the script. For one, the pace and interest drop right down everytime the focus moves to the romance subplot. The subplot with the twin and his wife could also have been snipped as it contributed nothing to the story and wasn't effective in humor. The way everything was resolved was also too contrived, in particular the way a character's tragedy serves no other purpose but to conveniently get the romantic couple together, made me wonder if I'm watching the work of a far less experienced director.