Movie Review
After a long pause of a few months, I could venture into a theatre, not the multiplex, to watch this movie. Having read positive reviews besides good feedback, I felt it was worth the visit to a theatre. One can have a richer experience in a multiplex with luxury as add-on value but the hitch is they have timings which are taxing to senior citizens like me. A show at 4 pm or 7.30 pm appears too odd jeopardizing early dinner or sleep timings. In regular theatres, the timings are fixed and quite friendly besides economical both ticket and snack wise and in case location too.
This is a movie that appears as if it is tailor-made for Dulquer Salmaan who fits the role perfectly. He is a chip off the old Mammootty. His wife Meenakshi Chowdary appeared perfect match for him in the story. The movie dates back to the early 1990s when LPG was just taking off. I am not talking about the gas but rather the Liberalisation, Globalisation and Privatisation which turned our history 360 degrees for good. I remember working in Lok Sabha at that given time and Harsha Mehta (in the movie they changed as Mehra instead of Mehta) was very much in the news in those days. The movie reflects the working conditions, Bombay life, middle-class touch, Bajaj Chetak, Vada Paav, Doordarshan TVs, Bank counters, and typical middle-class employees besides lower rung staff working in the government. Stock exchange, Reserve Bank, Chartered Accountant, siphoning cash and replacing it the next day by the cashier were depicted as if we are seeing them live going back 30 years.
One insider while working in Parliament confided to me that Harshad Mehta seems to have conveyed his air of confidence of putting our country’s economy in top shape if only, he was made Finance Minister. He was curtly asked to shut up and answer the questions posed by the MPs as part of the JPC probe. I cannot authenticate it but this was very much in the air in those days when even a good number of people became his fans not only for making them rich overnight but for the kind of courage he showed despite all stringent regulations prevailing in those days and mind you the honesty index was a shade better at that time than the SEBI we are seeing today thanks to Madhuri Buch and her sambandi Adani saab. The day he visited the Parliament House Annexe to face the JPC probe, employees gathered to see Harshad Mehta one of the fewest hero-wizard and he was in everyone’s mind of becoming rich like him overnight.
Coming back to the movie, the hero has the dual role of being a villain as well as hero only to become a superhero when he leaves India and puts the subsequent smugglers, scamsters a la Vijay Mallyas and Nirav Modis to shame. The movie has a message of how a happy middle-class family gets ruined, and cheated by falling prey to quick and dirty money-making than a peaceful daily contended life. How risks when taken become real dangers though promising a high-end life full of riches but no peace at the home front. How money changes the behaviour, brings in arrogance often paraded as confidence given by money which is again viewed by all and sundry as the only medium one can get respect and command subservience from everyone. The scenario is over three decades old but very much applicable today also when many are impatient to adopt shortcut methods to have quick money without any effort.
Instead of risking money on stock speculation in thousands and lakhs, it is worth spending a three-digit note on watching this movie to get a message besides good entertainment. If you miss in theatres, it’s ok but be lucky not to miss it on OTT at least.
I would easily put it in 3.5/5 without hesitation.
