Udta Punjab Movie Reviews

Film: "Udta Punjab"
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjh and Satish Kaushik
Director: Abhishek Chaubey

The director extracts solid performances from his two male actors. Shahid Kapoor, with his toned torso heavily tattooed, does full justice to the mercurial Tejinder Singh alias Tommy Singh of Phagwara, plunging headlong into the gleeful but ill-advised mayhem he represents.

Diljit Dosanjh, in his first role in a Hindi film, plays the cop who decides to break free from the system when his own brother Balli (Prabhjyot Singh) nearly dies on him due to a drug overdose.

Dosanjh does not put a foot wrong, playing his role with restraint. He also lends his singing voice to the film's defining musical piece - a Batalvi poem set to lilting music by Amit Trivedi.

The narrative intertwines the lives of a popular youth icon, rock-star-cum-rap-singer Tommy Singh, migrant labourer Kumari Pinky, awho unwittingly gets caught in the clutches of the drug mafia, doctor-cum-activist Preet Sahni, Inspector Sartaj Singh and his younger brother Bali.

Kareena Kapoor Khan, as Preet is competent, but offers nothing exceptional. So is Satish Kaushik, who plays Taayaji, Tommy’s uncle and show promoter.

The songs are situational. They add flavour to the film, but do not propel the narrative.

Mounted with moderate production values, the film is deliberated as a neo-realistic film. Rajeev Ravi’s cinematography is remarkable with realistic frames. The sound, designed by Kunal Sharma, effectively layered by editor Meghna Sen, enhances the viewing experience.

Overall, "Udta Punjab", with all the hype it created in the media for its “expression of creative freedom” is worth a watch, only for the performances and social message.