Peter Young
Anurag Basu directs Life in a Metro, a fun, dramatic feature which, like such movies as Dil Chahta Hai, attempts to portray the new India. Metro presents several individual stories of mostly young people, and all these stories are intertwined into one movie, which clearly aims to show the real side of the big city of Mumbai with all of its complexities, difficulties and troubled relationships. Each story is presented efficiently, and Basu successfully captures the spirit of the urban city with his range of colourful characters, depicting their modern lifestyle, their trials and tribulations, their dreams, hardships and dilemmas. This depiction is significantly aided by the realistic dialogues and situations, the dark dim atmosphere, the brilliant cinematography, and the narrative style, which is flavoured with wonderful music, great contemporary humour and some breathtakingly shot views of the big city.The film is generally very well developed, though sadly the stories themselves are not particularly original. One story, for one, is an out-and-out copy of the classic gem The Apartment (1960). I was also quite shocked to see that the story of Konkona Sen Sharma, for instance, is given an element similar to the one she had in Page 3 (2005), with one scene being laughably copied from the latter. These, along with other flaws, reduce the movie's quality. Yet, it is still totally watchable and enjoyable. The script gives the film a very authentic feel which, along with some wonderful performances, makes the movie easy to relate to. The film's score is exceptional, and Pritam creates one of the best soundtracks of the year. Songs like "In Dino", "O Meri Jaan", "Rishtey" and "Alvida" are awesome and none of them is actually lip-synced by the actors, which contributes to the film's realism.The acting is generally very good, and some of the performances are excellent. Shilpa Shetty gets a good role and delivers her second-best performance after Phir Milenge. Both films require her to act rather than look sexy and she is so good at it (at both, but I'm referring to the acting here). As Shikha, she is heartfelt and vulnerable and carries her scenes with grace, displaying her character's loneliness and desperation. Shiny Ahuja is convincing as the aspiring actor who falls for Shikha, and their relationship is beautifully portrayed. Kay Kay Menon is very good as Shikha's infidel husband Ranjeet. Kangana Ranaut is a little too loud at points but still effective as Ranjeet's lover Neha, and Sharman Joshi is fine as his ambitious employee who is also in love with Neha. Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali are good in their roles but sadly their story is the least developed and therefore quite forgettable. The finest performances in the movie, along with Shilpa Shetty's one, are unsurprisingly those delivered by Irrfan Khan and Konkona Sen Sharma. Khan is amazingly likable and funny as Monty, and Sen Sharma is more than astonishing as Shikha's frustrated and heartbroken sister Shruti, whose personal problems really bring her down but she later finds the strength to move on. Her character is perhaps the most complex in the movie, as she has to play the supportive sister and friend, the wronged woman, and the woman who finally finds the one but is unsure. Her chemistry with Khan is wonderful with their scenes being some of the film's best and wittiest, and yes, the one in which she breaks down while trying to release her tensions by screaming at the top of her lungs on the roof of a high building with Khan's Monty, ultimately screaming her pain out, is really the film's best acted scene.Life in a Metro is not without its flaws, and the fact that some parts of it lack originality really get on the nerves. That said, it is interesting and has many great moments of moving drama and funny comedy. The film will be mainly remembered in years to come for its rather different portrayal of the big city, its music, and some of its performances, all of which make it an altogether worthy picture.
HeadleyLamarr
I saw two Anurag Basu movies almost back to back - Gangster and LIA Metro. I wish there was some way to put the best of these films together and make an awesome film. Gangster had a taut script and did not have as much disconnect as Metro, but Metro had some fine performances and great music.Metro is centered around an apartment that belongs to Rahul (Sharman Joshi) and he is happy to loan the keys to all and sundry for an edge up the career ladder. Sound familiar? Of course it should, there was a great film called The Apartment with exactly this theme where Jack Lemmon played the beleaguered employee who had to spend cold nights outside while his bosses "used" the apartment. And Rahul loves Neha (Kangana Ranaut) from afar only to find that she is one of the girls the boss Ranjeet (Kay Kay Menon) takes to the apartment. In the original this role of a vulnerable career girl was played by the incomparable Shirley McLaine and Kangana tries to channel her for all she is worth. Now to make his story original Mr. Basu flails about and adds on many other stories - Ranjeet has an ignored wife Shikha (Shilpa Shetty) who meets a man Akash (Shiny Ahuja) on a train/bus and starts to fall for him. Shikha's sister Shruti (Konkona Sen Sharma) shares an apartment with Neha and is pining for love to happen to her. After some Page 3 type mis-steps (date is gay) she falls for Monty (Irrfan Khan). Confused? Wait there is more - Shikha and Shruti's mom Shivani (Nafeesa Ali) meets up with her old flame Amol (Dharmendra) and he busts her out of some place she is not allowed to leave.So these pieces ebb and flow in the ocean that is Mumbai and we see a slice of working class life in the metro. Whenever there is a poignant moment there is a beautiful song that no main character sings. Instead we have a flea bitten trio of singers who do the honors. This is right out of Something about Mary - worked there, but here it is hokey to the extreme and the dudes are very annoying. They totally ruin the fine music in the film.Direction is okay I guess - there are some blood red moments when Shilpa is about to do the deed (will she?) - I felt like I was back in Black Friday. The film is very dark and moody and the cinematography is quite excellent.Now for the best part of Metro - the acting. In order of my preference - Kay Kay plays the cad husband and heartless boss very well. But why does he breakdown when he comes back home? Neha leaving him makes that profound a difference? That is just not believable, but his caddish behavior after Shikha confesses is spot on! Irrfan is awesome as the socially inept male who cannot keep his eyes on the right spot. His horse-ride is filmy but hilarious. Next up is Shaman Joshi - he has the best role and does an excellent job as the career guy who suffers the consequences of his own thoughtless actions. Konkona is competent - she does this job well but this is really not a meaty enough role for her. Same goes for Shiny - not much of a role, but well done. Shilpa is okay - I found her trying hard to express sorrow and remorse and happiness but not being very natural in her attempts. In that sense I felt that though Kangana played the same role yet again she was good in her role. However - she needs to improve her diction. And last but not least we have Nafeesa Ali and Dharmendra - I wish Anurag had chopped off a few of the inane bits and given us more of this duo - they tugged at your heart strings and were simply beautiful. Inexplicable why she dies and why she could not leave her "home" etc. but I did not care.So all in all I think Gangster (in spite of Emraan Hashmi) was a better flick - more focused and touching. But Metro is a decent watch for the ensemble cast that all perform well.
viking2007
The world is becoming smaller. Cell phones have cut down distances. Low cost airlines have got cities closer. There's less time for breakfast. Even lesser time for dinner. And no time for lunch. The sensex is rising. Malls in every corner. Multiplexes, the only way to watch movies. The seven year itch has come down to 7 months. Or lesser. Depending on how ambitious one is. We are getting bored too soon. Too many choices. Too many dreams. Not enough sleep.Rahul is one such young man with dreams. Working as a call center executive in a BPO in Mumbai. He silently loves his boss, Neha. A smart young woman who has made it up the ranks in a very short time. And hard work is not her only secret. Because her boss, Ranjeet loves her and is willing to shower her with gifts and opportunities... only if she is willing.In his 30s, Ranjeet is married to Shikha with a 6 year old son. Shikha is very well educated and was a better student that Ranjeet. But they decided that she should stay back at home and take care of the house and the kid. So Ranjeet ventured out on his quest for money and success... and forgot his family somewhere on the way. And bitterness and boredom crept into their relationship. Soon he found solace and a fresh lease of life in Neha. An exciting, non-committal relationship based on sex.Neglected by an indifferent husband and bogged down by family chores, Shikha is soon attracted to a maverick in Akash. A loser and a rebel without a cause, Akash is a struggling theater artist whose wife divorces him... because she cannot stand his failures anymore. Akash and Shikhas love blossoms and she almost crosses her limits that she has so fervently guarded all these years.
