Micitype Pretty Good

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

MindblowingMahiya First, all movies that glorify mass murderers like Mao and Che should come with a disclaimer just like the movies that show smoking do. Beyond that, this is a movie that operates on simplistic axioms of "Rich Bad, Poor good" and "Industry bad, Farming Good". An absurd plot line that hobbles along with equally unbelievable and sometimes stolen characters and totally SMH situations (a rich man that is kind when drunk and mean when sober is as old as Charlie Chaplin's 'City Lights'). An Oxford educated woman who jumps in a pond full of buffalos to retrieve a cricket ball, a politician's son who buys an entire tribe of zulu dancers and brings them to India, a man jumping off a crashing plane and parachuting himself directly to a scheduled town meeting- The list goes on. Unfortunately, over last decade, uppity movie-goers in India have sheepishly accepted that whatever Vishal Bharadwaj Makes Has got to be good — even when it is bad. There are some brilliant Moments - "Howzzat?", "Dekho magar pyar se" and "Gulabi Bhens" — but that is about it.

ashwinikumar170 All the bollywood fans had a lot of expectations from this movie and it fails to deliver. Vishal Bhardwaj is a great director but everything seems wrong this time. Loose script, irrelevant scenes, not-so-good songs (except for title song), below average acting by Imran and Anushka .... The one and only plus point of this movie is extraordinary performance by Pankaj Kapoor who plays a role of a drinker. Only reason people are laughing and enjoying themselves is this man. Comedy scenes of this movie are awesome only due to Pankaj Kapoor. If you are thinking of watching this movie, then don't expect much from movie. Watch it just for Pankaj Kapoor's awesome performance.

Achyuta Ghosh Macbeth and Maoism is definitely not an easy cinematic cocktail but then Vishal Bharadwaj is a special act- the pioneer of today's "think different" craftsmen, and usually he has explored dark, psychological themes in his past ventures. But when he decides to go whacky on a socially relevant topic, rest assured that the faithful shall be rewarded. It's never ending name aside, Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola oozes rustic charm and riotous comedy- though it is not made for the masses. Political satires are rarely popular, and at best misunderstood. Vishal tries to mix things up by overlaying comedy and sprinkling a bit of romance on an issue which has claimed national acclaim- the land grab.At the outset the plot appears simple- Harry Mandola, played in scene stealing fashion by Pankaj Kapur suffers from a split personality, the split caused due to the bottle. when he is sober, he is a cold, calculating, and manipulative businessman who wants to see factories and malls on his agricultural land, but when drunk on his favorite Desi his heart bleeds gold, and simple goodness. Then there is Matru (Imran Khan), who also sort of leads a double life- the JNU educated sidekick of Mandola is also a closet Maoist who wants to make sure that the villagers get their due. Anushka Sharma in a repeat performance of all her movies is Bijlee- ganjee wearing, extroverted, fire breathing, and feisty. Shabana Azmi is Chaudhari Devi, the politician in bed with Mandola who strictly believes that the country gains only if the politician gains. Arya Babbar is her delightful idiot of a son who needs to marry Bijlee to ensure the Mandola family wealth becomes his. Last but not the least is Gulabo- the grinning pink buffalo that Harry regularly sees when drunk, alluding to Macbethian fallacies.Like Mandola though, MKBKM has the Jekyll and Hyde complex- large tracts of the film are outright hilarious, deadpan Jat-style. Sample the first scene where there is a limousine and a shack, and Kapur and Khan cajoling the voice inside the shack to sell them alcohol on a dry day. But to no avail and so they drive the limo into the shack before breaking off into an impromptu song. Speaking of which, the songs are fabulous- Vishal was a music director first and a film director later, and songs in MKBKM drive the story forward, in addition to being catchy. Other than Imran Khan who beneath all that beard still tries to do his singular chocolate boy act, the casting is spot on too- from Shabana, Kapur and Anushka right up to the chow-mien hating, khaap infamous Haryanvi villagers. The land grab plot, though repeated in multitude of movies, is given an original treatment and the movie albeit quirky, has its heart in the right place, an almost perfect black comedy. But somehow Vishal is not able to end it with the same gusto that he started with, and all then falls back on the unimpressive love triangle, and a clichéd marriage scene.For people bred on the current spate of crass comedies, there is good news-a half hearted Vishal Bharadwaj is way better than the rest of the Bollywood crop. Here is to a brave director unafraid of failure and doing things his way, having the guts to challenge the basics behind "India shining" where the rich have only become richer at the cost of the poor, in his own eccentric way. Besides why miss an opportunity to see India's best ever actor romance India's best ever actress? 8/10

rangdetumpy With Vishal Bhardwaj behind the camera one can expect something new in the offering. This time Bhardwaj goes the quirky humor path with a socially relevant subject. Even though Indian politics & old lunatic politicians could be the maximum source of entertainment, for some reasons they are not utilized to the fullest. Bhardwaj-Chaubey's script is one such rare political satire that deals with land scam – a perennial problem pan India.The film begins with a weirdly catchy shot with a limousine being parked in a farmland in front of the local wine shop. The limousine accelerated to bump into the stall as we get introduced to Harry Mandola, the millionaire & his affinity towards "Gulabo beer". He personifies "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde" being the Good Samaritan when he is drunk but during his steady state he is an authoritative, manipulative businessman who is planning to take away the land of the farmers for personal gain. To add to it there is the corrupt minister with her sinister ambitions to climb the ladder of politics through tactful alliance with Mr Mandola. All plans goes awry as Mandola under his uncontrolled drunk state forced the farmers to start a revolution against him.Vishal Bhardwaj takes a different route from his usual dark psychological themes and tries to explore the capitalist exploitation of the affluent & the wrong usage of power. Mao Tse Tung is symbolically webbed into the narrative hinting on communistic ideology as the shadowy "Mao" helps the farmers in their fight to get their land back. Bhardwaj-Chaubey's script is wacky,zany at times surreal that doesn't become overtly didactic. There are ample sequences (especially in 1st half) which have the mark of genius Bhardwaj. The scene where Mandola & Matru are trying to pull a Well away from their path in a drunken state reflects the existential struggle of the farmers of the society. They provide us with the ingredients to survive but we tend to ignore their significance, while the politicians are up to their own games. The serious subject has been absurdly camouflaged with utter sincerity. The dark humors are well placed. One of the finest sequences involves the gathering of the politicians as they take up their wine glass & lustfully shouts "Kursiyan" (chairs of political power) instead of "Cheers". From Zulu tribe to UFO, Bhardwaj incorporated everything that can add in to the madness- with master touch being the creation of Gulabi Bhains (Pink Buffalo) which plays a crucial role in the film. The dialogs are exemplary with unique twisted take on common proverbs. Sample this "tumhare ghar mein Mao Lenin nehi hai kya". Karthik Vijay's cinematography helps in portraying a real & surreal world which gets blended by perfect editing of veteran A Sreekhar Prasad. Vishal Bhardwaj music is always different and here also his music gels with the mood. Gulzar seems to have enjoyed a lot penning those quirky lyrics. Seldom has he got the scope to write such interesting lines like "oye Dolli Dolli Dolli, meri vitamin Ki goli". I am sure he must have been bored to death writing the typical romantic songs for JTHJ and with MKBKM he embraced air of freshness.The pillar of the film, veteran Pankaj Kapoor as Harry Mandola, is rocking. He effortlessly slips into the role and took "Split personality" in Bollywood to another level. He again showed his versatility and proved why he is considered amongst the top actors of our country. Imran khan was easy on eyes and tried his best to do justice to the complicated role of Hukum Singh Matru. Hopefully his acting prowess will get noticed with this one. The role of bubbly Bijli is tailor-made for Anushka Sharma and she didn't miss doing justice to the confused daughter of rich father suffering from "Meena Kumari Complex"(as coined by Matru). Shabana Azmi made her presence felt with her lecherous act of climbing the ladder of success. Another fine acting talent of Indian cinema, she showed her spontaneity in the sequence with her son where she is explaining her motive behind the thirst for "power". Arya Babbar surprisingly leaves impression as Azmi's stupid yet calculative son "Badal" who is trigger to Azmi's success.Navneet Nissan makes her presence felt in the small insignificant cameo.By the way what was Ranbir Shourey doing in that once scene? Lastly, the smile of the "Gulabi bhains" is addictive..Did I mention that I am also hallucinating like Mr Mandola?On the whole the Bhardwaj should be credited for depicting a clash between communist & bourgeoisie and also dealing with a grave issue like land-scam. Probably this time he wanted to reach a wider audience which can be felt in the 2nd half when things becomes over simplistic & bromide for the entertainment of regular cine-goers. The climax is disappointing by Bhardwaj standards when one looks back & checks his uncompromising brilliant masterpieces like Maqbool,Kaminey,Blue Umbrella,Omakar. Nevertheless even a strictly decent Bhardwaj film is better than most of the Hindi films being churned out recently. Like one can't expect Messi to score in every match it is difficult to expect brilliancy from each & every film by any director. Having said that I feel a Vishal Bhardwaj,Anurag Kashyap,Dibakar Banerjee film should never be missed as they bring something new to the platter.And repeating myself, even a not-so-great film by any of them is better than most of the other Hindi films.Give MKBKM a chance. There are enough moments that have the stamp of VB. Icing on the cake is the presence of ever reliable Pankaj Kapoor.