It is an all fizz no drink
pre-interlude story of an aspiring journalist Noor (Sonakshi) who is
frantically trying to discover herself and a soul mate for herself. All of
twenty eight and on her birthday, she gives the viewer an insipid leak of her
biography as a journalist who has two friends Zara (Shibani) and Saad (Kannan Gill).
Obviously Barkha is who she wants to be. We have all the predictable
predilections in place. Add to it the stereotype character: an ambitious
intelligent gal so glasses are on, she is constantly tripping over herself to
establish she is shabby and has a poor dress sense (so tailor made for
Sonakshi!). She is self-righteous, loitering in a platonic relationship living
life king size with I world problems; has an indulgent Dad (MK Raina), a shabby
room in a suave flat, an indulgent boss Shekar (Manish Chandra), a boring job….
She meets her knight in shining armour in Ayan Banerjee (Purab Kohli).
All is fine and linear with a nag in the pre-interval narration till Noor
accidentally finds herself doing a story about a great medical initiative only
to realise that it is a cover up for a dirty scam dealing with a sale of kidney
by the leading doctor. The first victim is none other than the brother of her
domestic help Malti (Smita Tambi) She fights to expose the story only to be
cheated on the way.
She loses on multiple counts and the accused is acquitted and she is defeated.
It is here that she realises that she is not just amateur in the big game and
big bad world , but also that she is a tad selfish who was willing to put to
danger the life of a victim at the cost of her career.
She now makes a brilliant ode to Mumbai and posts it on social media which
catches like wild fire and then scents success on every front.
Every moment of the film is caught in predictable high voltage dialogue and
stereotyping. The filmmaker also goes wrong with his cast. Sonakshi is all fine
with the fizz and the aggressive part, but when it comes to drawing enough
credibility in the Ode to Mumbai she falls short and her emotive quotient is
suspect. It is here that the film falls flat and perhaps the film maker should
have gone to a more depth filled actor from the contemporary scene – may be a
Parineeti or a Swara Bhakser. Sunhil Bhasker has his heart in the right place
and does well to expose the hypocrisy that is the metro of contemporary India.
He however gets caught in so many clichés that you wonder if he consciously
chose the easy way out. Somewhere in the course of the film Noor declares: I am
the idiot and that seems a fairly truthful moment. For all her effort and
sincerity, I think Sonakshi fails the film more than anybody or anything else.
A true artist in place of a good star could have worked far better for the film
and in this judgement the filmmaker goes wrong.
There is also a go at journalists – so pompous, so judgemental, so
unaccountable and a rueing factor in contemporary times. Yet you can see the
film for the wonderful Ode on Mumbai which should work for any metro. This part
of the film nearly makes up for every other shortcoming in the film. There is
also an interestingly underplayed performance from Purab Kohli. Noor could have
been far better but is still worth a visit.
L. Ravichander.