 "Udta Punjab: Crude but real")
Drug abuse is not new to the world of cinema. While Hollywood boasts of Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting and The Basketball Diaries, Bollywood has Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Shaitan and now Udta Punjab in its kitty.
Directed by Abhishek Chaubey, the film brings to light the overwhelming drug problem the land of five rivers is riddled with.
The film opens with a heroin packet being flung from across the border, which, in turn, leads to the opening credits brilliantly interweaving the four main leads of the film. The packet lands on Alia Bhatt, a migrant worker from Bihar, and throws her into the chaotic world of drugs. An assistant police inspector, Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) lets trucks filled with narcotics pass through, only after being handed a hefty bribe. And then there is Preet (Kareena Kapoor Khan), who runs both a clinic and a solo war on drugs. All this while Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor), a drug-addled rockstar, belts out the film’s title track.
Bhatt portrays the plight of migrant workers, who, on a paltry wage, sometimes give in to greed. After realising the worth of the drug she possesses, and the number of zeroes the receiving amount would have, she decides to sell it. But her temerarious act leads to her being captured and abused by her captors. While Tommy is arrested for his alleged drug use, Sartaj goes through a change of heart after his younger brother overdoses on heroin. The film is hard hitting and tries to reach out with relatable characters. The plot is watertight and the screenplay effective. However, the film seems slow in some places and rushed in some, especially in the first half. But Chaubey’s directorial skills shine in the second half. Along with captivating performances, of course.
Shahid Kapoor executes the role of a vainglorious cocaine-snorting rockstar with perfection. Fans adore him, teens idolise him but investors have had enough of him. Though he can churn out hit songs only after a line of coke, the investors find his whiplash behaviour hard to deal with and everything goes downhill after his arrest. He, much like any rockstar, has his group of adulating lackeys who don’t waste a moment to castigate him once he falls from grace. Goes to show how momentary fame is.
Both Dosanjh and Khan deliver exemplary performances. Dosanjh as a corrupt cop who goes through a transformation and joins forces with the noble doctor, Preet, is convincing. The film doesn’t really give you a reason to complain, especially when it comes to performances even by minor characters — be it Tommy’s money-minded uncle (played by Satish Kaushik) or Sartaj’s junkie brother, Balli.
But Bhatt takes the cake. Her performance is nuanced and she proves that she has come a long way from Student of the Year. As a poor migrant worker, she brings to light the trials and tribulations workers face. The film presents a poignant scene where Tommy is looking for Bhatt’s character but no one knows her name; everyone knows her as a “Bihari” worker and it shows how such workers’ identity doesn’t hold any significance in our lives.
Bhatt, perhaps, has the most repugnant scenes in the films — scenes where she is injected with heroin forcefully and where she kills her captor. But she comes out shining in all of them, proving her mettle as an actor.
In the age when most Punjabi songs talk about various kinds of drugs and the misdemeanours one indulges in after taking those drugs, it is astounding to think that the film was met with such objection. The film does not portray a state in a bad light but underlines the growing menace that no one wants to deal with.
Whether for the row with the censor board or for the titillating plot, Udta Punjab is sure to garner enough eyeballs.
Directed by Abhishek Chaubey, the film brings to light the overwhelming drug problem the land of five rivers is riddled with.
The film opens with a heroin packet being flung from across the border, which, in turn, leads to the opening credits brilliantly interweaving the four main leads of the film. The packet lands on Alia Bhatt, a migrant worker from Bihar, and throws her into the chaotic world of drugs. An assistant police inspector, Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) lets trucks filled with narcotics pass through, only after being handed a hefty bribe. And then there is Preet (Kareena Kapoor Khan), who runs both a clinic and a solo war on drugs. All this while Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor), a drug-addled rockstar, belts out the film’s title track.
Bhatt portrays the plight of migrant workers, who, on a paltry wage, sometimes give in to greed. After realising the worth of the drug she possesses, and the number of zeroes the receiving amount would have, she decides to sell it. But her temerarious act leads to her being captured and abused by her captors. While Tommy is arrested for his alleged drug use, Sartaj goes through a change of heart after his younger brother overdoses on heroin. The film is hard hitting and tries to reach out with relatable characters. The plot is watertight and the screenplay effective. However, the film seems slow in some places and rushed in some, especially in the first half. But Chaubey’s directorial skills shine in the second half. Along with captivating performances, of course.
Shahid Kapoor executes the role of a vainglorious cocaine-snorting rockstar with perfection. Fans adore him, teens idolise him but investors have had enough of him. Though he can churn out hit songs only after a line of coke, the investors find his whiplash behaviour hard to deal with and everything goes downhill after his arrest. He, much like any rockstar, has his group of adulating lackeys who don’t waste a moment to castigate him once he falls from grace. Goes to show how momentary fame is.
Both Dosanjh and Khan deliver exemplary performances. Dosanjh as a corrupt cop who goes through a transformation and joins forces with the noble doctor, Preet, is convincing. The film doesn’t really give you a reason to complain, especially when it comes to performances even by minor characters — be it Tommy’s money-minded uncle (played by Satish Kaushik) or Sartaj’s junkie brother, Balli.
But Bhatt takes the cake. Her performance is nuanced and she proves that she has come a long way from Student of the Year. As a poor migrant worker, she brings to light the trials and tribulations workers face. The film presents a poignant scene where Tommy is looking for Bhatt’s character but no one knows her name; everyone knows her as a “Bihari” worker and it shows how such workers’ identity doesn’t hold any significance in our lives.
Bhatt, perhaps, has the most repugnant scenes in the films — scenes where she is injected with heroin forcefully and where she kills her captor. But she comes out shining in all of them, proving her mettle as an actor.
In the age when most Punjabi songs talk about various kinds of drugs and the misdemeanours one indulges in after taking those drugs, it is astounding to think that the film was met with such objection. The film does not portray a state in a bad light but underlines the growing menace that no one wants to deal with.
Whether for the row with the censor board or for the titillating plot, Udta Punjab is sure to garner enough eyeballs.
