'Pataakha' review: Vishal Bhardwaj's black humour shines in this rural drama

Movie: Pataakha

Cast: Sanya Malhotra, Radhika Madan, Sunil Grover, Vijay Raaz, Saanand Verma, Namit Das

Direction: Vishal Bhardwaj

Duration: 2 hours, 16 mins

Language: Hindi (U/A)

Genre: Comedy-Drama

Story: 

Based on Charan Singh Pathik’s short story, Do Behnein, the film is based on two real-life warring sisters — Genda ‘Chhutki’ Kumari (Sanya) and Champa ‘Badki’ Kumari (Radhika) — from Ronsi village in Rajasthan. Their blow hot, blow cold sentiments are akin to those shared by India and Pakistan; or at least that is the metaphor the filmmaker tries to establish here. As luck, or should one say misfortune, has it, the two girls also end up being married into the same household. And their inglorious war continues.

Review:

Vishal Bhardwaj, the Bard of Bollywood as he is often referred to, trespasses on Quentin Tarantino territory here. His protagonists are badasses and they make no bones about it. They fight like most siblings do, without good reason. As a viewer, you’re initially indulgent enough to allow them to spar and war as much as they desire. But suddenly, your patience wears thin. Honestly, after a point, the undercurrent of violence makes you uneasy.

You cannot but ask yourself, why on earth would two jungle cats fight so much? If this was happening on your television, you would have the option of switching it off. But since this is happening in a movie hall and you are captive, your eyes nervously dart from left to right, looking for an exit route.

Those of us who like Tarantino, and for whom Pulp Fiction (1994) and The Hateful Eight (2015) are Bible watches, one can understand where this particular Vishal film is born.

Unmitigated hatred is, as we know, as relevant as the truest form of love. It exists and even though we may pretend to ourselves that we only wear white hats, we know that the black ones have equal appeal.

Coming to the lead players; the more famous, Sanya Malhotra (Dangal, 2016) is in decent form. Her performance you can digest, but what you find hard to accept are her stained teeth and unkempt avatar. Okay, so she is a village girl but do village girls need to be scruffy, dirty, ugly and dishevelled at all points of time? Would a bath and some beauty hurt?

Ditto Radhika Madan. Again, stained teeth, etc. etc. She’s a better actor than Sanya but equally unpleasant to look at. To make your actors ugly is a bad idea. At least in Tarantino’s films, the backdrop is pretty; here, even that is arid and unattractive.

Vijay Raaz as the warring girls’ widower-father is top-notch. And stand-up comic Sunil Grover is good as Dipper. This could well be one of his earliest full-length film roles. However, his ‘I-love-to-create-trouble’ character loses its spark after a point because, eventually, you fail to see the humour in this Narad Muni.

The music, also composed by Bhardwaj, is passé and the ‘pataakha’ background gyrates. You laugh at the parallels drawn between the two sisters and India’s love-hate relationship with Pakistan. All the profundity about not being able to choose your relatives and neighbours works. But even that metaphor doesn’t allow you to ‘enjoy’ the violent nature of this destructive relationship.

A rural audience may connect with this sometimes funny, at other times humourless film. However, one must admit that it left me scared, scarred and shivering because of its screechy pitch. I, for one, am grateful that I don’t have a sister!

Verdict:

Watch Pataakha if you like a walk on the dark side. In all fairness, not all cinema can be escapist fare.

Critic's Rating: 3 / 5