Drugs + Abuses + Stellar Performances + Reality = Udta Punjab | Movie Review

Film: Udta Punjab

Duration: 148 minutes

Star Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh.

Director: Abhishek Chaubey

To start off I would like to say this is something beyond one’s expectation. After tons of controversies and court cases, it turns out that some way or the other it should favour the movie’s box office collections. The movie is made for a very generic crowd which knows what all is to be swallowed and what is to be spit out from this one.

The movie revolves around four things; influence of drugs, bouquet full of abuses, the chain supply of all the STUFF and last but certainly the most constant feature of the movie, the policemen (of course people know which police force we are talking about). It starts off with the rockstar, Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor) showing some serious Ozzy Osborn like moves. Hazy and insane is something one can say when they see Shahid’s Tommy performing up-top with all engines fired up.

Once Tommy’s character is expressed enough for the audience, in comes Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) as the policeman. Honest like a priest as seen in most of the movie, he sets up the pace for the movie once all the characters have announced themselves. Coming back to the cast, Pinky Kumari (Alia Bhatt), a migrant from Bihar who does all the labor work that is put up to her and Dr. Preeti Sahni (Kareena Kapoor), a doctor who wants to save Punjab from diseases, drugs and youth’s changing cultural paradigm.

The actors have put in some serious bit of emotion and their effort shows up on the screen as you may start to feel the way the characters do throughout the movie. Shahid certainly brings back the ‘Haider’ from inside his head onto the screen. Diljit does brilliantly as the cop Sarabjit. His role certainly will remind you of the one Akshay Kumar played in Baby (roles aren’t the same, but the energy level and effortless acting does match up). Alia Bhatt, as is seems is turning out to be the next Queen of Versatility of Indian Cinema. Her character as a Bihari migrant is totally justified as she keeps up her stature along with Shahid, Kareena and Diljit in the movie. Her looks are more like the ones in ‘Highway’ but the performance has notched up big time. And last but certainly not the least, after some moderate performance in ‘Ki and Ka’, Kareena Kapoor comes up with her bold and beautiful act as Dr. Preeti Sahni.

Udta Punjab shows the modernization of Punjab and the effect it has on the next generation and people around them. The rise and downfall which comes along with the drugs and fraudulent activities that keep happening all around is also showcased well in the movie. The direction of the movie is good as the script is well narrated and the talent of the lead actors keep you grasped to the seat. You might learn of products that you would never of heard and If that is that case however, odds are that at some point you might find it a bit dull as the movie moves into the second half, but it just the build up for the events in near future. Being put into criminal thriller genre, the climax may seem to be weird and abrupt, but looking at the big picture this one can be excused for sure. Another good thing about the movie that people will connect to is that there is nothing labeled as ‘grand’ in the movie, just so that it does not spoil the crux of the film.

The songs in the movie aren’t as great as the movie (something that was expected of the movie). But nonetheless the background score certainly makes up for the missing soundtracks in the film. The movie seems to be high on emotions all the time along with some comic dialogues as well. With a perfect balance of drama along with a message for the youth, this movie seems to go down in history as one of the most controversial but high on performance, one-of-its-kind type of film. With this it seems that Indian Cinema is now set to explore the grey areas and shall leave no stone unturned in making such bold movies in the future.

Drugs + Abuses + Stellar Performances + Reality = Udta Punjab | Movie Review