Madras Cafe is the best Indian political thriller

How many political films have been made in India? Very very few. Infact, even after probing my mind for sometime, I could just come up with Aandhi and Chakravyuh. There is no dearth of films which tries to weave a story keeping the politicians at the background. Most of these films talks about the politician-criminal nexus and the criminalization of politics in different states such as Bihar, UP or Mumbai, but there is no film which can be compared with a film like 'Madras Cafe'.

'Madras Cafe' takes off at a breathtaking pace and keeps the audience at the edge of the seat all through out. It is an espionage thriller but it can't be compared with anything that has been seen on Indian celluloid. There is no time for romance or emotions because there is a job at hand -- saving the former Prime Minister from assassination.
Even though there are bullet-ridden bodies tumbling across in Jaffna as the civil war rages on, the blood doesn't make one nausea because the camera doesn't linger on a scene for long. There is so much information given at a breezing pace and characters (who are important pieces in this conspiracy) are introduced and removed that there is no time for the audience to get swayed away for anything else than the main plot. There are no unnecessary sub-plots, which kills a good story.

The director Shoojit Sarkar was so dedicated to his craft that he didn't give John Abraham a single scene extra nor did he provide Nargis Fakhri an extra frame. There are no cliched scenes nor any run-of-the-mill dialogues. The film stays grounded all through out and truly committed at telling an unsaid story. Abraham and Nargis are good at their portrayal, while Prakash Belawadi is brilliant as Major Vikram Singh's superior at Jaffna. Even Siddharth Basu makes an interesting debut.

The film will go a long way in educating the country about the then situation in Jaffna and the Sri Lankan issue which not many people might have known otherwise. However, one note of caution, if someone is not at all aware of LTTE or the civil war in Sri Lanka, he or she might find it a little difficult to get a hang of the story and the pace early on.

What is commendable is to see Shoojit trying to tell such a different story after the huge success of Vicky Donar. The 'Yahaan' director, who produced 'Aparajita Tumi',  gives a big hope to the future of Indian film industry. In fine, a welcome relief after 'Chennai Express' and 'OUATIMD'.