Irada Hindi Movie Review

Sometime in the distant future when one digs into the time capsule of these times and picks random pieces of art (read cinema) he would see how much we celebrate – nay salute anarchy. Here the critic returns with the critique. The name caller gives himself a bad name. If we prick the bubble and the social libido of attitude we would see that we are stuffed men and hollow citizens. It is in this mindset that we swallow yet another Friday dose of bravado and the twice stated couplet from the film:
Aag ke pechey tez hawa
Aage muqadar aap ka hai
Paradoxically we seek energy from the fire we seek to douse. Aparna Singh super imposes on the Indian milieu the 2000 biopic Erin Brokovich. While the inspiration had Julia Roberts in an award-winning outing we have Naseerudin Shah being himself – predictably brilliant. The film show cases the contemporary challenge of ‘eco terrorism’ and reflects how all social evils are abetted by the powers that be. A retired officer from the armed forces Parabjeet Walia (Naseerudin Shah) spends his time training his daughter Ria (Rumana Molla) to take severe endurance tests only to realise that she is suffering from a fatal form of lung cancer. Also in the same scenario is journalist Maya (Sagarika Ghatge – in a pale performance) who is fighting the high and mighty to avenge the disappearance of her fiancé Anirudh Dutt (Nikhil Sharma). She takes on the local pharmaceutical company boss Paddy Sharma (Sharad Kelkar) and the Chief Minister Ramandeep Braitich (Divya Dutta). Paddy Sharma is out there indulging in reverse boring of hazardous chemicals into the soil and thereby the cause of cancer in the area. In fact, the incidence is so high that there is a regular train from Batinda to Lalgarh named the cancer train. When Parabjeet realises that Paddy is behind the tragedy and loses his daughter to cancer he decides to play the game of vendetta. A la A Wednesday he has no qualms of taking law into his own hands. This time round there is also a police officer Arjun Mishra (Arshad Warsi) who steps in to investigate the near endemic of cancer where carcinogens are in the air. Before long there is pressure on him from the Chief Minister to play down his findings. Elementary Watson one would say. Res ipsa loqquiter, the lawyer would plead, but the polluting pharma industry is awarded and the media is busy covering the grand function.
To borrow from the script: call it scam, call it system, call it life, this is reality. How is one to deal with it? Such cinema clearly points out and advocates the common man taking law into his own hands. Even worse, it lulls us into the belief that the heroic messiah will take care or even inoculates us from any sharp revolt. So, if this be an effort to show case the evil then it is counterproductive. Repeatedly characters in the film state that being good is a scam. Surely this film is not.
While Arshad Warsi is sincere as is Sharad Kelkar, Divya Dutta is a tad too laboured. Rumana Molla fails often to translate the trauma of a cancer victim. However, weathering all this and coming out with a brilliant performance is Naseerudin. This guy is awesome. Without having to carry coal to new castle, the film is recommended only to savour the brilliance of Shah and the effort of the film maker. This is a film but with good intentions and stops just there.

Rating: 2 Stars
+ Naseeruddin Shah
– Neandering advocacy of anarchy

L. Ravichander.