Sridevi sparkles

Film: English Vinglish

Producer: Sunil A Lulla, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, R Balki

Director: Gauri Shinde

      Cast: Sridevi, Mehdi Nebbou, Adil Hussain, Priya Anand

Genre: Drama

Ratings : Spectacular

Synopsis:

Shashi is an efficient housewife who is made to feel inadequate because she cannot speak English. Her family often cuts crude jokes on this but she takes it in her stride. She is an excellent homemaker and her clients devour on delicious laddoos prepared by her. While visiting America for a family wedding, she makes most of the trip by taking a crash course in English language and this small adventure transforms her life.

What works about the film?

The story, treatment, script and the characters, writer director Gauri Shinde portrays the chronicle of a self employed house wife with amazing insights. Shinde is familiar with her characters and their anxieties and does not sideline anyone. They speak believable dialogues which are a mixture of Hindi English and at times Marathi. The city of New York is used as a character that the protagonist learns to befriend.  Swanand kirkire’s lyrics tug your heaqrt strings woven into Amit Trivedi’s composition.

 

Performances

French actor who loses his heart to the desi girl is a super actor and devastatingly handsome. Adil Hussaian as Sridevi’s husband is effectively chauvinistic and Priya Anand as Sridevi’s elder sister amazingly natural. The film however belongs to Sridevi who makes certain that you cannot blink while she is in frame. She transforms the mundane into magical with her reactions and often her actions speak louder than her expressions.

Scenes to remember

There is no way you are going to forget  a nervous Sridevi traveling by plane to New York, her encounter with the woman at the café, the laddoo disaster at the wedding and her final speech. Superbly scripted and superbly performed.

Verdict

It is all about woman power and this time even the box-office will have to bow to this special actor called Sridevi

The review appears as it is in Blockbuster, a newly launched trade magazine.

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