REVIEW: ANGREZI MEDIUM

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Radhika Madan, Deepak Dobriyal, Ranvir Shorey

Director: Homi Adajania

Rating: 2.5/5 **^

An elongated love-letter about parental sacrifices sealed in an enlarged 2.5 hour-long package. The movie keeps the viewer's attention but gets confused within trying to be humorous. The best part about the movie is the setting - the finesse and beauty of Udaipur, Rajasthan serves as a linguistic delight to show the complexity of tier-two cities in India.

The STORYLINE starts with an editable flashback of Champak Bansal's (Irrfan Khan) lifelong confusion, and Champak becomes the narrator of the remaining movie. The movie opens with Champak's monologue about his marriage, the birth of his child; before quickly moving to present-day Udaipur, where Champak, a sweet-shop owner is attracting customers away from his competition, neighbour and cousin - Gopi Bansal (Dobriyal).

The two sweet-shop owners are caught in a long-drawn-out legal battle over the name of their great-great-grandfather, Ghasiteram, which has allowed the families to become popular and on which the two cousins sell their sweets to tourists. Eventually, it is revealed that the brother Gopi bribes the judge to acquire the rights to be the sole owner of the Ghasiteram brand. While drinking with his cousin Champak, Gopi confesses to his crime and is caught on video by a mutual friend, Gajju.

Alongside, these developments, the movie shows the story of a daughter, Tarika (Madan) who yearns to travel the world and looks expectantly for help to her single father, Champak (Irrfan Khan). Incidentally, the girl's school is giving away admissions to Truford University, London to 3 students that score the best in the exams. This allows the daughter to dream and makes her want to work hard to score well and achieve her dream of going to study in London.

Several song-montages later, the movie begins with the announcement that the girl has indeed scored well and is granted admission to Truford University. In a weird twist of events, the father (Khan) is expected to make a speech at the annual school function. Enraged, to see the corrupt judge be the chief guest of the function, Champak exposes the judge and leaks the video of Gopi confessing to the bribe. In the first forceful twist-of-events, it turns out that the judge is the principal's husband. The school disqualifies Tarika's enrolment into the university because of Champak's public humiliation. 

Overcome with anger, Champak, challenges the principal, that his daughter will get admitted into Truford University. Following a series of bizarre and forced scenes, Champak finds an illegal way to admit his daughter to Truford. As the father, and daughter head to London they are joined by Gopi on a series of more forced twist-of-events, on their way to London. Gopi and Champak are arrested at London airport (which conveniently has no translator available) for suspicious smuggling.

As the daughter reaches London, the two men are deported and find another illegal way to reach the girl and aid her. In further misguided attempts at problematic humour, Gopi and Champak buy illegal Pakistani passports and reach London, where they finally meet the girl.

Meanwhile, the girl has found a pace of life and acquired a job and residence in London. Gopi and Champak accidentally ruin a police encounter and meet the police officer Naina (Kareena Kapoor), who is about to arrest them but doesn't do so for lack-of-evidence.

The real story only begins at this point---

Gopi and Champak are aghast that the daughter can sustain herself and in another fit of rage, Champak breaks relations with his daughter. Gopi and Champak seek out their first illegal connection - Bablu (Ranvir Shorey), who lives in London. Of course, there is another twist-of-event, Bablu is a broke criminal who has been arrested by the London police. Emotionally lost, and feeling overwhelmed, Gopi and Champak bail out Bablu and demand that he gets the daughter admitted to Truford.

With an auction, the father buys the admittance for his daughter, who remains distant and aloof from her caregiver. The price of the auction is, ironically, the brand name Ghasiteram, which is sold to pay for the university fees. As the police trace the large sum of cash being transferred to Champak, police officer Naina decides to chase him down and calls him to explain the source of the money.

Finally, all the truth is revealed during a car-chase, overlapped with a pointless flashback montage. The daughter understands the grave lengths and illegal deeds of her father and seeks his forgiveness. Everyone returns to India after the money is not found. Naina mends her relationship with her ailing mother and Tarika mends her relationship with her father.

Oh, finally it ends!

The PERFORMANCES are the saving grace in this mix-and-match sequel to Hindi Medium. Each actor does their bit well and brings fresh energy into the movie.

Irrfan Khan as Champak Bansal-Ghasiteram is well portrayed. The subtleties of Khan's craft are seen every time he faces the camera. Khan's accent aids him immensely in portraying the Udairpuri Champak and his occasional tiredness is witnessed only when it is required. The most beautiful take comes when Champak is awoken by his cousin Gopi - still half asleep, Khan plays with his face and eyes like doing magic tricks.

The young Radhika Madan as Tarika Bansal is unsure in certain scenes, yet convincing throughout, which aids the viewer to believe the age of the character. There are moments when she breaks character, but her understanding of being unsure and afraid is an interesting character choice. This unsurity is juxtaposed to her personality in India and allows for a tangible character arc. In most moments, however, Madan looks older than her character and her face is often rigid in front of the screen. Madan's strong diction and accent are beautiful and make the character extremely likeable.

Deepak Dobriyal playing Gopi Bansal; is perhaps the most complex and unrelatable character throughout the film and is played well. The chemistry between Irrfan Khan and Dobriyal is seen in every moment and only adds to the wonder of Gopi Bansal. There are moments where Dobriyal is able to steal the scene very easily and this character deserves a movie of his own.

Ranvir Shorey plays the partial-antagonist and becomes unlikeable in several scenes. There are moments where Shorey heightens the humour of the scene, but beyond that remains an avoidable character.

Kareena Kapoor-Khan as Naina Kohli is reminiscent of Priyanka Chopra's Quantico. Her years of experience aid this character which is a new direction for Kapoor-Khan. Dimple Kapadia as Mrs Kohli is equally interesting to watch. There is a gentle yet stern approach her portrayal maintains and aids the character immensely.

The DIALOGUE is another key element in building the world of the story. Despite the strong dialogue, there are no quotable and memorable lines. The movie plays more in terms of complicating actions and multiple storylines rather than punchlines.

The COSTUMES are appropriate and build a realistic world, without excessive bling or colour ruining the over-the-top story. The muted colours of the costumes also help in making the story feel less bizarre.

***

As a unit, the movie takes what worked in Hindi Medium and mixes it into a new more complex story. The overlay upon overlay of stories hurts the movie, which eventually gets too long and a tad-bit preachy. The multiple storylines will give you a headache but you could watch it for the breezy performances and the development of humour. The layering of two parallel (and contrasted) stories and the philosophy behind a parent-child relationship, is perhaps why this movie is enjoyable and meaningful.