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Viruddh
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'Viruddh' Against All Odds

By Aparajita Ghosh
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore, coming together on screen after many years, are the main protagonists of this touching movie that tells the tale of an elderly couple who take on the corrupt system to get justice for the killing of their only son.

Director Mahesh Manjrekar has said that his movie Viruddh is a sensitive love story of an elderly couple and how they become each other’s support in the times of crisis. True.

Viruddh is a fine attempt to sketch the lives of two bereaving people coming to terms with the loss of their son. The movie brings forth their plight and helplessness against a callous, corrupt system and shows their unflinching determination to fight against all odds to get justice.

The first half of the movie takes you into the world of Vidyadhar Patwardhan (Amitabh Bachchan) and his wife Sumitra (Sharmila Tagore). A couple in their sixties, Vidyadhar and Sumitra’s lives are marked with banter, light humor, subtle emotions and their future dreams of their son Amar (John Abraham) who returns from London with a British girlfriend.

The ideal world of the Patwardhans turns upside down when Amar witnesses a crime and is killed when he intervenes.

Shattered by the sudden death of their 27-year-old son, Vidyadhar and Sumitra now have a mammoth task at their hands. They seek justice for the killing of their son and seek to clear his name from the accusations that he was a drug peddler.

It is in this struggle many aspects of the special bond between Vidyadhar and Sumitra come to the fore – their love, trust, support and confidence in each other.

In Mahesh Manjrekar’s words Viruddh is a movie inspired from a real life couple. The story is presented in the movie in an authentic way. Quite credibly, Manjrekar delineates the character sketch of Vidyadhar (Bachchan) as an elderly man of buoyant spirit (shown in the morning walk sequences between Bachchan and his friends, played by Prem Chopra, Sharat Saxena, Shivaji Satam) in the first half.

This light-hearted jamboree of the initial reels stands in sharp and ironical contrast to the somber mood of the second half.

There are some intense and highly charged sequences – like when Bachchan meets the Home Minister’s son or when Sanjay Dutt thrashes the lawyer in Bachchan’s home – in the latter part of the movie.

To an extent, Manjrekar succeeds in bringing forth on the screen and make the audience feel the very pain and plight of the aged couple. Thankfully, he shuns over-dramatization of emotions and deliberate placement of tear-jerking situations. The emphasis, rather, is on the realistic depiction of the story.

The movie’s dialogues by Sanjay Pawar are gritty and lifelike. And thankfully, there are no item numbers or other eye-candy distractions to chip in for some entertainment in this engaging albeit serious story.

Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore deliver superlative performances. While Bachchan, true to his credentials, shows incredible mastery in conveying many emotions, Ms. Tagore, sans any cosmetic make-up, is very natural in her performance. And the cozy onscreen chemistry between the two is unmistakable.

John Abraham is getting better with every film and in Viruddh he is able to hold his place and deliver his role convincingly despite the presence of a megastar like Bachchan alongside. Sanjay Dutt’s role in the movie looks forcibly carved.

One big oddity in Viruddh is the inclusion of advertisements that pop up at the most inappropriate sequences. Rather than incorporating the ads (of Nerolac paints, Elf engine oil and Western Union money transfer etc.) within the story, Manjrekar shows these ads in a crass, unimaginative and in-your-face style.

All said, Viruddh is a sensitive movie that will appeal to niche audience. The movie’s sad and somber mood and its lethargic pace (at places) may not go down well with youngsters.

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