Media Magick

In Bollywood, these days, subject oriented and message-centric films are under fashion. Movies which have a message for the masses and the classes are produced largely and the fine line between commercial and parallel cinema is sort of fading away. After Toilet – Ek Prem Katha, director Shree Narayan Singh is back with another subject oriented movie Batti Gul Meter Chalu. Batti Gul Meter Chalu features Shahid Kapoor, who desperately needs a hit at this point of his career where there’s a gap of both critical acclaim and box office hit for him, Shraddha Kapoor, who is enjoying Stree’s success at the moment and Divyendu Sharma, who was last seen in Toilet and a fine actor like him was missing in action. After the release of the trailer it was speculated that Batti Gul Meter Chalu is “copied” from a Pakistani film, let’s see if it is really copied and what it offers to its viewers.

Trailer: Batti Gul Meter Chalu

Batti Gul Meter Chalu revolves around three friends S.K. (Shahid Kapoor), Sundar Mohan (Divyendu Sharma) and Nautee (Shraddha Kapoor). Things were going great and Sundar opens up a printing press and from there the story takes a drastic turn. What hardships Sundar face immediately after establishing his printing press from electric company, what happens between the three friends and why Sundar plans to commit suicide are all the reasons which are can be found out after watching the movie. The film raises questions on electricity companies and how are they minting money yet not providing services to the public. This film delivers a social message for all – especially for developing countries.

Performance wise, Shahid Kapoor is good. Shahid has a few scenes which are top-notch and he completely impresses his fans with his expressions and intense emotions. Most of Shahid’s dramatic scenes are good, in the rest of the film he tries to portray a cunning and scheming lawyer which offer nothing substantial. Shraddha Kapoor gives a noteworthy performance again after Stree. Shraddha’s performance is undoubtedly improving and it is evident through her dialogue delivery, pauses and even outburst. Yami Gautam looks good but unfortunately has nothing brilliant under her sleeves. If she’d have given better dialogues and a decent projection, she might have excelled.

Divyendu Sharma is a delight to watch. The young actor is known for his carefree and funny characters but he is a revelation in Batti Gul Meter Chalu. Divyendu impresses in every single scene. He’s at home in witty scenes but in emotional scenes he is simply brilliant. The way he says nothing but expresses his stress and worries in a few scenes are brilliant.

The script of Batti Gul Meter Chalu is not gripping, probably because it is too lengthy and it seems that the scenes are stuffed in the film for the sake of stuffing only. The first half could easily be chopped to 30 minutes but audience has to bear with it without any significance turn and twist. The film offers a courtroom drama as well which totally misses the sincerity. The way Shahid Kapoor pleas in the courtroom is totally unrealistic. Keep in mind that similar characters were shown in Jolly LLB series, they were also outspoken, witty and not as decorated as their opposition but they managed to pull off the integrity of the law and courtroom beautifully, adding the aesthetics and cinematic appeal for the masses. But in BGMC, the script and execution is so amateurish that it’s hard to believe that something of this sort can actually happen in a courtroom. I’d like to specially mention two scenes, one’s from the trailer where Shahid talks about the “Figure” in the court and objectifies the woman and the second is craziness which takes place for “Sadhu, Sareeta aur Sex” in the courtroom. Seriously hard to digest!

Direction wise, BGMC is okay. It lacks on multiple grounds, editing is too loose. Unfortunately the film is nothing close to reality, but when filmmakers make films on social subjects and issues which are set in small towns the most crucial element is to keep it simple, natural and free from far-fetched ideas or lifestyles. Batti Gul Meter Chalu fails to bring the authenticity n the storytelling. Audience cannot connect with the character. Yes, there are some genuine emotional scenes which sadden viewers but most scenes are stuffed and become redundant and lengthy, which in return make a saddened viewer gruesome for not ending it on the high-point but stretching it for too long.

For those who are considering that Batti Gul Meter Chalu is an adaptation, copy or inspiration from Pakistani film Actor In Law, the fact is it’s not. The only similarity between the two is that the protagonist files a case against the electric company, the circumstances are totally different, the script detailed and the research is mammoth in comparison to what Actor In Law showed. Plus, for those who want to watch what copies are, they should compare Chupan Chupai with director Nalan Kumarasamy’s “Soodhu Kavvum” (where Chupan Chupai was scene to scene copy of the latter). Plus, there’s one more example of Shor Sharaba the plot, scenes and dialogues looked hugely inspired from Priyadarshan’s Hulchul.

Chupan Chupai Scene To Scene Copied From Soodhu Kavvum

Batti Gul Meter Chalu is a loosely scripted movie which is too lengthy and offers more misses than pluses. The language used in the film is hard to grasp for those who are not Hindi speaking and the unrealistic courtroom drama makes it look very lousy.