Wednesday, October 10, 2012

English Vinglish - Movie Review

Looks like meaningful cinema has finally made its inroads into Bollywood. After Barfi!, we have a small and simple film, English Vinglish carrying the baton. Directed by R. Balki's wife, Debutante director, Gauri Shinde, English Vinglish is the perfect comeback vehicle that any actress could ask for.

Unlike Madhuri Dixit, who chose a movie based on dance(something which she is known for since her hay-days), Sridevi returns to the big screen with a fantastic film where she plays her age, is real and most importantly, totally adorable! She gives a stunning performance and its hard to believe that she has been away from the arc lights for 15-odd years. Barring her voice, hindi accent and her botox face, she still has the same potential and lightens up the screen with her charisma!

Set in India and 'The United states of Amrika', the movie traces the journey of Shashi (Sridevi) as she tries to learn speaking in English, primarily to get her some respect from her family. To be frank, i thought the movie might turn out to be a film version of  the TV show, 'angrezi mein kehte hai', but its so much more than that. Its got such small yet brilliant moments, which make one realize how we take women for granted.

Its sheer brilliance lies in its story- nothing new, nothing unpredictable, but has such poignancy in it! Ones heart goes out to Shashi, when she feels guilty of embarrassing her daughter at her school PTA. One can feel her pain when she runs out of a coffee shop, all humiliated or in any of the scenes where her husband and children make fun of her.And, One can relate to her when she acts like a perfect mom! (I could see my mom in so many of the scenes, and i realized how much i take her for granted!! SORRY MOM :*) And thus, the heart and soul of the film is SRIDEVI! She is absolutely brilliant and looks real in almost a no-makeup n sari clad role. What a wonderful film to make her comeback!

And along with Sridevi, Laddoos make a comeback too! Haha! Supporting her is Priya Anand, as her niece. The rest of the cast is fantastic too, but as i said, Sridevi's aura is unmatchable. Technically, it has a very good screenplay and the direction is A-Grade. Gauri Shinde, take a bow! Final word, its a wonderful film thats definitely a must watch!!
MY RATING- 4/5.