Recently Seen Movies - 9 - Page 68

Strong, brave, gory at times. With strong performers n equally good music.

Boring second half though.

Performances

Diljit n Alia were my pick of the performers. Sasha was fab in first half but he did too much of charlie in the second. But loved him too.

Becoming a fan of Sasha!

Bebo was nice but hammed a little in the second half

Tayajii Tommy's crew n those others with Alia were good

to much swearing for my liking

fav song in the film -ikk kudi

This is a dark, gritty and sometimes gory movie. The makers have inserted humor at just the right moments to keep the story going and not take from the narrative. The anti-drug message isn't preachy and is packaged just right to get people thinking.

Shahid as Tommy Singh and Alia as the Bihari migrant steal the show. They do go over the top at times, but their performances are for the most times spot on. Alia manages to give you goosebumps and squirm uncomfortably. Diljit as Sartaj and Kareena as Preet give lovely restrained performances. Diljit is exceptionally endearing in his role.

The music and background score fit well into the narrative and kept the story moving. Music was well used instead of kitschy distraction.

The film has major flaws though. Most of them are in the pacing and editing. Abhishek Chaubey has some stylistic transitions. While some work, the others just seem weird and choppy. There are also many rushed sequences thrown into slower narratives that just don't sit right. Overall well done though.

Sidebar: War on drugs is a tricky proposition. America's war on drugs is an abysmal failure. While the drug industry flourishes, thousands of poor or minority youth suffer are incarcerated for petty offenses. The prison industrial complex churns out hardened career criminals faster than the streets. Udta Punjab did two things well. It showed that both poor and affluent drug abusers are victims who are in dire need of support and rehabilitation. It also showed that you need to target the big creators and suppliers rather than punish small time users and dealers. Hopefully, Indian authorities learn and do not repeat America's failed war on drugs.

For all its prerelease hype courtesy the controversy, a trailer that was cut in a manner that set up the stage for it being either a game changing movie or a complete disaster and not really high on buzz music, UP had a lot NOT going for itself..

I for one was tilting on the opinion of it facing the fate similar to Bombay Velvet..and the entire stunt and prolonged war between the makers and the Censor, just seemed to be a huge farce or they seemed to have joined hands to give mileage or the much required publicity to an otherwise dark, unconventional movie in order to ensure big opening..atleast that is what I thought..

However, I have to say, UP is an important movie and presented the issue of drugs in a non-preachy, non dramatic, yet extremely relevant manner, with doses of dark humour inserted from time to time.

The statistics of increasing drug addicts, and suicides in the last decade in India is extremely alarming and so is the center point of its massive consumption, Punjab. this movie, made me want to get into research mode around it, and have to say, the stakes are really high here, we are losing an entire generation for real to drugs..

I for one believe that the writing was pretty amazing, the manner in which the plot point revolves around the four starkly different characters and their point of connection and intersection was nicely done, without crazy histrionics or forcing the characters into each others' story

the last time I really enjoyed amalgamation of different stories which meet at some point or the other was Life in a Metro..and now UP

I particularly liked the way the songs were inserted..the sequence where Mary Jane is carrying the consignment and has a change of heart, was brilliantly done! absolutely loved the way Alia enacted it out, ofcourse she gave a stand out performance in this one (she has showed sparks of brilliance since Highway)..but this particular sequence and the one where she meets Tommy Singh, that is SOME SERIOUSly mindblowing acting from her!

The jail sequence! - WOW Shahid - did not impress me all through the movie, but his moment of shining/ glory came in, in the jail scene..he was inconsistent IMO, but this particular scene - totally nailed it! the DOP did a smashing job, capturing it too..and also just before the speech before the audience - the moment of conflict was brilliantly edited and shot

Diljit gave a smooth, natural performance - not outstanding, but adequate..he is blessed with great screen presence though..

Bebo - again not exactly consistent, looked beautiful throughout, but again, I can forgive her thousand bad movies, or all the inconsistencies in this movie itself, just for the way her eyes expressed in her last shot - that is the mark of an experienced actor! and I did not see that coming for her character for sure..

Alia deserves every award this season for playing her part - yes her character was written to bring in some serious shock value and was easily the best written role of all - but she was JUST SOOO good too, for bringing it alive..that she CAN act has been proved with Highway, but here she was in absolute control..not a single false note IMO..and she has learnt to use her eyes effectively as well..every time she stared at the ad of Goa - I just had a lump inside my throat..

I actually liked the way the climax was executed, because it did not make me leave the theatre with a heavy head..

4/5

i share the same feelings... i love shahid, kareena as an actors but when it comes to UP.. i didnt like the movie, the topic was very good but portrayal was weak, it couldnt give a very strong message. though i am not a fan of alia but liked her role

I have enjoyed Abhishek Chaubey's previous films for their dark humor and whimsy but with Udta Punjab, he's made something much more hard hitting than any of his previous films.

I read many reviews before I watched the film so I was expecting something possibly preachy, possibly artificial, possibly postured without really managing to get to the core of the issue but to my welcome relief, UP is none of that. Instead, it is one of the most searingly honest films made in recent times.

I loved the format of the film...4 characters, not necessarily deeply connected, everyone on their own journey, not necessarily culminating in some grand decisive climax, but just happening to cross paths at certain points and leaving you with something to think about. The beginning of the movie has to be one of the most engaging in recent times...the story grabbed my attention from the get go as a chain of events was set into motion with that packet of heroin flying over the border into the fields.

But it is the characters through which Abhishek has charted this story about the multi-faceted reach and impact of the drug epidemic, that makes for such an engaging watch.

*Spoilers below*

There is addict #1: Tommy Singh, the archetypical Punjabi hip hop star you can find in any of the zillion daaru/gaadi/ladki videos that flood the airwaves in a repulsive fashion. High on coke in a near permanent state, he is a maniacal yet strangely vulnerable man-child constantly coddled by his entourage and his uncle. It is this group that has the best dark humor scenes in the film. And IMO this is one of Shahid's finest performances with hardly a false note to it.

Addict #2: The Bihari Migrant Worker (Mary Jane?) who has the most tragic and hard hitting story of the 4. Alia in the role of a lifetime without a doubt and I felt she did a stupendous job once again. Where does one even begin to find words for what her character goes through? To me, she was the metaphorical embodiment of what is happening to Punjab...innocence and joy lost, the struggle to overcome life's challenges throwing you into the wrong path, raped, exploited, rendered useless by this epidemic of drugs, yet somehow still standing resiliently strong and refusing to be beaten down. Despite dealing with the most despair, she symbolized resilience and hope.

And then the non-addicts, the crime fighters...Sartaj and Preet...these two for me symbolized pure idealism...especially Preet...and it is purity and idealism that more often than not suffer collateral damage in tragedies like this. Such a fine performance from Kareena...the scene when you see the life seeping out of her as the blood gushes from her neck...some seriously brilliant acting...she looks so fragile there and you feel like weeping for the collective tragedy of it all.

Sartaj...that part in all of us that looks but does not SEE what is happening around us...that part that is only interested in thinking of our own individual survival until tragedy hits us personally and we wake up to the collective failures of society...briefly...and then we go back to sleep again. Diljit did a fine job of this character as well and it is always a surprise to see the fun loving jovial guy from all his Punjabi movies play something as sober as this...that last scene when he shoots the grandma holding a gun over Bali is again one of the most hard hitting scenes of the film. There is so much enduring tragedy for his character too...the heavy price he has to pay even though he was trying so hard to make amends for years of looking away.

The movie does such a fine job of showing how deeply these problems have become entrenched in the fabric of Punjab...the casual and rampant flow of drugs, the deep seated corruption and lack of ethics, the tragedy for the few who try to stand up to all this...the language, the locations so authentic...take a bow, Mr. Chaubey and team👏

A special mention also for the music...worked very well within the flow of the film to move the story along.

There is a bittersweet feeling to the end...I did not expect some of the characters atleast to manage to break free of their nightmare...but they did...and maybe it felt a little far fetched but it was good to see not everyone meeting a horrifying and tragic end. And there is a good message to take from it...the characters whose lives were spiraling the most out of control, somehow managed to save each other and escape the nightmare together.

4/5

Caught it late on hotstar.

Gem absolute gem if a film.

Two stories go parallel n have two different plots.

Shot in the quaint little lanes n near the banks of ganga.

Simple but so riveting.

Wonderful performances by richa, Lankan tripathi n Vicky kaushal is amazing!