Anurag Basu keeps getting better at his job. After a hard-hitting 'Gangster', the skilled filmmaker now comes up with 'Metro', a realistic and riveting film with cinematic standards at par with international cinema.
In 'Metro', Anurag does convincingly what other filmmakers in Bollywood have been clumsily trying lately. He tells a multi-layered story revolving around several characters. Each story is stacked with another in a meaningful, well thought way. The characters in each story are somehow connected to character(s) in another. And in this way the multi-narrative story moves on, with each subplot complementing the other, until the movie reaches a high point in the end.
On this strong foundation, Anurag puts his directorial skills into action, extracts superb performances from his cast, props it with Pritam's compositions and overall comes up with a tight, technically sound and well-crafted movie.
To begin with, the film has a very properly chosen cast ensemble. Of course, it has no big star (except Shilpa Shetty perhaps) but every actor is cast in a role perfectly suited to him or her.
Shruti (Konkona Sen Sharma) is a thirty-year-old girl who is still a virgin and has no love in her life. She meets Debu (Irrfan Khan), a possible suitor, but rejects him because of his eccentric straightforwardness. Shruti has a crush on a RJ at the radio centre she works in. But her small fling with him ends with a shocking revelation.
Shikha (Shilpa Shetty), Shruti's elder sister, is married to Ranjeet (Kay Kay Menon) and has a daughter. There is no love left between Shikha and Ranjeet. Theirs is more like a marriage of compromise.
Ranjeet is the boss in a BPO firm. In the same office works Rahul (Sharman Joshi) who lives in his uncle's flat, which is often used by his colleagues and seniors as a joint for having sex. Rahul obliges his seniors because he wants to rise up to managerial levels in his office.
Rahul has a crush on Neha (Kangana Ranaut), his colleague. He doesn't know that Neha is in a sexual relationship with Ranjeet, until the day Ranjeet asks Rahul for the key to his flat to 'spend time' with Neha.
On the other hand, there is a series of brief encounters between Shikha and Akash (Shiney Ahuja).
Akash is a theatre artist who does his rehearsals next to an Old Age home that Shikha regularly visits to meet her former teacher Shivani (Nafisa Ali).
Dharmendra plays Amol, Shivani's lover from the past who comes back into her life to spend his last days with her.
Meanwhile, Shikha and Akash develop a mutual attraction. Their relationship reaches just on the cusp of crossing the limit when Shikha backs out.
On the other hand, Neha feels 'used' by her boss Ranjeet and tries to commit suicide.
Shruti meets Debu again and they become good friends. But there is a problem. Debu is set to marry another girl.
In this complex tangle, the movie's story seems headed for a stifling stalemate when a timely stimulus is provided by a very small but significant incident that makes the characters realize the importance of following their hearts and not heads.
Thereafter, every complexity is resolved in the mere wink of an eye. Suddenly every character in the story begins to see clearly and puts his or her tangled life straight.
'Metro' is a gripping film but it gets heavy in the second half when the stories in it begin to look more and more commonplace. Thankfully, things don't drag for long. The aforementioned stimuli sets in motion a chain of events that leads to the culmination of the stories.
Among the performances the most impressive come from Irrfan Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Konkona Sen Sharma and Kay Kay Menon. Irrfan, playing the eccentrically frank and friendly guy, provides many joyful moments to the otherwise serious and sombre film. Shilpa surpasses her previous performances with her sensitive portrayal of a conscientious wife attracted towards another man. Shiney Ahuja is strictly okay. Kangana Ranaut plays her part convincingly. Sharman Joshi is impressive. Dharmendra has a tender charm that comes through in every scene he shares with Nafisa Ali.
'Metro' doesn't have a single song picturized on any actor. It is the Metro band (Pritam, James and a third guy) that performs all the songs at regular intervals in the film.
Visually, 'Metro' has a very sleek look. Basu's treatment of the story is very realistic and the dialogues sound straight out of life. Most importantly, not once does the emotional turmoil of characters in the film becomes soppy and superficially sentimental.
'Metro' is a beautifully crafted film. It definitely ought to be seen once.
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