UDTA PUNJAB BO/Review Thread~~ - Page 22

I also think they should have revealed her backstory. It was somewhat implied in one dialogue where she's narrating the effects of drugs to her patients and she talks about all the terrible things it does to the patient and their families. And she says, "I'm not telling you based on what I've read or heard...I've seen it"

SPOILERS

I agree about the love angle being weird and out of the place but Tommy's motivation to quit drugs doesn't completely begin from there. It developed over a series of events. First when his fans in the lockup say how he was the first person they had in mind when they first had drugs and eventually he gets to know that they ended up killing their mother. I think that shook him up big time. Secondly, him firing a bullet at his uncle who was a father figure to him. Plus Alia's determination to come out of the quagmire. But yeah, Tommy's character graph looked a bit lost though. I think it was one of the flaws of the film. That charecter loses its steam as the movie moves forward, while all the other charecters gain momentum. I can't pin point but yeah, there was something odd about it.

Meanwhile, some of the scenes of Alia's character were very impactful and numbing. One of the sadder scenes has to be that part where she runs away and reaches Tommy's cocnert and sees police, when she decides to go to them for help, she realizes that it's the same guy who has exploited her. It just made me so sad. There was literally no escape for her and lots of people out there.

Diljeet-Kareena scenes were so damn endearing. Both of them totally won my heart. So impressed with Diljit, he gave such an amazing performance and every time he looked at Madam ji with so much awe and respect, it was just so heart warming. Kareena to was fabulous. Her ending was heartbreaking. 😭

Some of the people in my hall got their kids with them. I dont know why would they do that, coz some of the scenes were very very disturbing to watch. During a scene where Alia eats the leftover meat, the kid started shouting and asking what was she doing, if she was eating non-veg and he too wants to eat it. So weird it was. 🤔

I just finished watching Udta Punjab. I have so much to say, but don't know where to start from.

It's a movie where you come out thinking ... It's not an excellent movie, but a must watch movie. You simply don't get to see such movies in Bollywood. It's brave. I do agree with the fact that it's a movie that should be known for performances rather than its storyline. Though it's very informative.

Performances. Who should I start from? It's already said, but indeed excellent performances by four of them.

Kareena. She is an actress who excels in acting, no doubt. She simply becomes the character. At one point, my partner who I was watching with, commented how good her Punjabi accent is. My heart ached for - what happened to her character. That last scene of hers, her eyes, all I could think was: Well done, Kareena! That's her strength. Making her presence felt simply by acting; doesn't matter the length of her role, but it wasn't as short as people are making it to be I feel.

Alia. You know if people are stating that she deserves a National Award for her act then they are definitely not exaggerating. If I wasn't her fan, I am now. If you want to see an actor grow as an artist, give them Alia Bhatt's address. Yes, she is a star kid but in my opinion she is the only star kid who is proving that she deserves to be in the industry. KJO Ko 7 Khoon Maaf. So bloody impressed.

This is the first time I'm seeing Daljit perform, so I have nothing to compare him to. He was good. I'm impressed with his acting, but for some reason it didn't match to all the hoopla that I have read on IF. I won't take the credit away from him, but he had one advantage that the other three didn't. He only had to concentrate on his performance, not the dialect. I don't know why I felt Daljit to be in his comfort zone more.

Shahid. Ah! This guy made me so bloody proud as a fan. I won't say if it was his best performance, I won't even say if it was better than Haider or Kaminey ... All I will say is that by playing this character - Tommy Singh - he only proved that he can be anything or everything. Not even for one second, I felt like I'm watching Shahid on screen. That scene where he is locked up with other druggies and they were concentrating on his eyes when he hit by realization ... That scene where he was interacting with his reflection ... That small monologue on stage ... Just wow! Feeling so proud of him. Somebody should make a special Award for Tommy Singh & give it to him!

I would like to mention one thing. I enjoyed the second half more for some reason. Maybe first half was a tad bit awkward for me cause of all that bold language. I know most of you are complaining about this - But I loved the love story they inserted of Mary & Tommy. Maybe I was craving for something light. I simply LOVED their chemistry ... Especially when they would be playing Ikk Kudi music in the background ... That scene of Alia and Shahid's when they were hiding? I immensely enjoyed it! I really wanted to get up and clap for them. I would like to see Shahid and Alia in a dramatic love story. I feel in this movie you are supposed to appreciate their chemistry.

I feel like I want to say more but sitting in the car and typing all this ain't comfortable. 😆

I would definitely give the movie an honest 4 out of 5! The only thing I didn't like was its ending. Too rushed. Incomplete.

Special shout out to Ikk Kuddi (That scene when Shahid croons it lol), Da Da Dasse and Hass Nach Le! Amazing music!

Udta Punjab has one of the most heartbreaking kisses I've ever seen. Farm labourer Alia Bhatt and rock star Shahid Kapoor competitively trade sob stories. She's never had a man listen to her with empathy before, and her story tumbles out in a fast-forward outburst. A state level hockey player, she migrated to Punjab as farm labour, following her father's death. But she has been kidnapped by a drug dealer-pimp gang, which rapes and prostitutes her after injecting her with heroin.

"First, one guy raped me, then another, sometimes they all raped me together," she says, her tone rising; then suddenly, she kisses him. "Iske siva sab kuch hua," she says dryly " "Except this, everything has happened to me." It is a matter-of-fact kiss, but its comment on the dire drought of tenderness in the way men treat women, is a searing indictment of gender relations in India. She ends with a defiant, "Ab hum khade hain" (I'm still standing) " which should become the anthem of India's women.

Propelled by a ferocious energy, this film is a powerful exploration of how the drug trade and drug addiction have laid waste a whole generation in Punjab. The rot is deep " from schoolboy dopeheads who have killed their own mothers to get money for their fixes, to corrupt police and politician drug dealers " and the film spares no one.

It weaves together diverse stories, of a rockstar, a migrant labourer, a doctor and a policeman, and is marked by savage, black humour. This remarkable film is Abhishek Chaubey's third feature, following the terrific Ishqiya and pretty daring Dedh Ishqiya. Sudip Sharma, who wrote NH10, has written Udta Punjab, with Chaubey as co-writer.

Thrillingly, the film is powerfully feminist. Most of the men are corrupt bas***ds, drug dealers, rapists, pimps or dopeheads. The women are decent; they work hard, fight back, have the ambition to rise above their circumstance, and be the change they want to see. In both Shahid Kapoor-Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor Khan-Diljit Dosanjh's stories, the women save the men and drive the 'romance'. Bhatt saves Kapoor, literally and metaphorically, dramatically changing his life; Kapoor Khan does likewise with Dosanjh.

Dosanjh tells her: "Madamji, all the men in Punjab are drugged out. Now, it's up to the ladies to do something." She tries to expose the corrupt system, while Alia stabs her kidnappers and

The sparkling screenplay is spiked with delicious humour. When a drugged-out Dosanjh wakes up in Kapoor Khan's bedroom, he asks her about 'kal raat,' in a nod to the famous Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge sequence, coolly reversing gender roles. Shahid Kapoor and the ensemble cast do a great job, but young Alia Bhatt is truly a revelation. In the depths of her drug-clouded despair, and her determination to fight back, we root for her all the way.

Few current Bollywood actresses can match her calibre; for an industry whose stars have driven away its actors, Bhatt raises Bollywood's bar high. Rajeev Ravi's cinematography is compelling, and the way he shoots Bhatt's gang rape is restrained, yet visceral. Editor Megha Sen weaves together diverse strands playfully. Amit Trivedi's songs are powerful, as are the dialogues and lyrics. Produced by Alt Entertainment and Phantom Films, this 'A' film is not for the faint-hearted, but you should definitely not miss it. Thank you, Censor Board, for the free publicity, but not the grief, as we make way for Anurag Kashyap's Raman Raghav 2.0.

Meenakshi Shedde is South Asia Consultant to the Berlin Film Festival, award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.

Wow my brother, saw movie and he loved it and even the message behind it, he went on Friday itself. Now he is a big fan of Alia, a revelation and and is recommending it to watch. Even Shahid was good. I do the think I might watch such dark movie in theater, may be on TV.

They have succeeded 👍🏼

1. taran adarsh @taran_adarsh

   #UdtaPunjab Fri 10.05 cr, Sat 11.25 cr. Total: 21.30 cr. India biz... All set for 34 cr [+/-] opng weekend... Biz on weekdays crucial.

   ran adarsh @taran_adarsh

2. #UdtaPunjab showed 11.94 % growth on Sat... Big city plexes are SUPER-STRONG... Biz-wise, Delhi, Punjab continue to perform BEST... contd.