Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola Movie Reviews

If it's true - what director Vishal Bhardwaj would have us believe in that cheeky anti-smoking disclaimer that precedes Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola - that too much of anything, even water and lemon, is harmful, then the filmmaker evidently doesn't practice what he preaches. This outrageous comedy after all shows little concern for our health as it delivers laugh after side-splitting laugh. Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola might well be described

Without warning, there is an accident. Then, a flashback: to ten minutes earlier. A flashback which explains, nearly in realtime, how the accident comes to be. Why, then, did we not directly start from the flashback? Because Vishal said so. Vishal Bhardwaj's latest film delights in its own impish, impromptu absurdity. There is much daftness in this oddly titled Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, a cock-and-pink-buffalo story

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (MKBKM) mirrors the dangers of self-indulgence - of texting and ghee, alcohol and directorial profligacy. The film is based on a little gem of a story - a drunken Haryanvi feudal Harry Mandola (Kapur) wants to sell villagers' lands but is challenged by daughter Bijlee (Sharma), assistant Matru (Khan) and surprisingly, his own drunken self that turns softly socialist at the pour of a peg

Matru ki Bilji ka Mandola is Vishal Bhardwaj’s take on one of Hindi cinema’s favorite subject: the oppressed villager vs. the zamindar. And it is as singular a take as they come, being as it is, a VB film. Question is, does Bhardwaj’s indulgence (a word likely to be forever associated with MKBKM) overpower what audiences have come to expect in a mainstream film to a point of alienating them and does his message hold?

O panjo, panjo, first things first. It is such a pleasure to see actors like Pankaj Kapur and Shabana Azmi back in the driver’s seat. With just their bearing, stance and such ease, the pair brings so much maturity and depth to their characters. It is a pity though that they have to be a part of such a half-baked plot. Matru’s plot is a wisp floating in the breeze over the ripe wheat fields of the Mandola village in Haryana, unable to decide

A stationary stretch limo parked on a desolate farmland revs up and drives right through a ramshackle liquor kiosk, bringing the structure down in a mangled heap. The owner flees and two men – the car driver and his inebriated master – ransack the shop and make off with as many bottles of a local brew as the vehicle can hold. That – the opening sequence of Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola – sets the tone for the rest of the film. It is a wild, wacky, wicked satire

Macbeth and Maoism don't normally make for a cinematic cocktail, but with Vishal Bhardwaj you can never tell. Vishal's is a mindspace where nothing ever unfolds as it would seem. He played out the surprise quotient in Kaminey, Omkara and Maqbool. He does it again with his new film, teasingly packaged as a rom-com. Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is a satire that uses a Shakespearean whiff and shades of Red politics to make a caustic comment

Liqour can have quite a variety of effects on the people who consume it. Not everyone knows the kind of euphoria it can create. But almost everyone is aware of the mayhem it can make. Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola captures the beauty of an intoxicated slur. If at first go the name doesn't quite make complete sense, it’s because you aren’t high enough. Its characters are enviously colourful, its humour is spectacularly random. Not all of it makes sense

What would you do if you were cornered by a pink buffalo that grins at you? When you’re tipsy? At your daughter’s wedding? Our man here – Harry Mandola – is expected to take the bull by the horns, quite literally! Harry Mandola (Pankaj Kapur) is a wealthy businessman who’s looking forward to getting the villagers of Mandola to hand over their land to the government so that he can, in turn, buy the land from them and build a car factory

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is marked by an adventurous streak that is commendable: Bhardwaj pushes the goofy storytelling style all the way through to the bitter end. It is another matter that the strategy boomerangs frequently.

As a social commentary, the film succeeds only intermittently, and is not as complex and effective as last year’s Shanghai. There are other ambiguous points in the film. But here’s the thing: you ought to watch the film.

I don’t mind a serious film, I don’t mind socio-politics, I don’t mind satire, I certainly don’t mind quirky, dark humor. What I don’t get though is why a film can’t pick one or two of these themes and stick to it through and through – be there, build-up on it and end like the makers believed in what they were making, without any external pressures.

A Vishal Bhardwaj film is guaranteed to evoke a strong reaction. You can love it – as I did Maqbool and Kaminey – or dislike it, as I think most people did 7 Khoon Maaf. But you can’t be indifferent. So I am a little disappointed to report that Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola didn’t stir up any keen emotions in me. Parts of the film soar but many are saggy and ultimately I was just underwhelmed. The film begins with a singularly delectable image

In Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola -- directed and written by the very talented Vishal Bhardwaj (and co-written by Abhishek Chaubey, with the consultant support of New York-based Sabrina Dhawan), Pankaj Kapur plays a man with a split personality. Kapur is Harry Mandola, a real estate developer and corporate biggie living in a village in Haryana. During the day he is a nasty, cold and ruthless businessman who is plotting to grab the land

One looks forward to a Vishal Bhardwaj film for varied reasons. For this supremely talented storyteller/music composer, stories have preceded stars, which, to be brutally honest, is a rarity in Bollywood. Though he has worked with A-list names, he's *not* made it a compulsion or regularity. Additionally, one cannot accuse him of peddling saccharine sweet romances, brain-dead comedies or fancy family dramas to his spectators

Vishal Bharadwaj’s Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is yet another evidence of how some directors do not care to be a part of the 100-crore club. Their movies may not be commercial blockbusters, but the filmmakers’ intentions are honest. If you are wondering what the title means, it’s nothing! Seriously, it’s just an arrangement of three engaging names in random orders. Harry Mandola (Pankaj Kapoor) is a filthy rich, alcoholic builder

Mandola is no Mandwa. Named after the rich zamindar or industrialist, this is a place where the peasants are under the thumb of Mandola (Pankaj Kapur). Mandwa is the gaon Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (Amitabh Bachchan) wanted back in honour of his slain father. So what is the similarity, or why am I drawing a parallel between these two? For the answer, read till the end. Vishal Bhardwaj hammers out a film purely for the pseudo-intellectuals

The film passed me by in the first hour. It enticed me back again in the second half. But not enough to make me forget the inert prologue, which is minus drama, which is Bhardawaj’s true forte.

Review: Vishal Bhardwaj’s first attempt at a full comedy is what they are calling it. Let’s just say he was better off adapting from......

Vishal Bhardwaj has often served us with offbeat and interesting cinema. So even with a title like Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola which doesn't make much of semantic sense, you expect an eccentric and entertaining film. Unfortunately, the film is as contrived and manipulated as its title. Having its roots in the age-old seed of peasant versus capitalism conflict, while the problem might still be pertinent today, the satirical treatment and ridiculous resolution

“Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola” is a disappointing film, one that could have been so much more.