Batti Gul Meter Chalu (2018)

An opportunity missed

The number of incidents where a Bollywood movie derails after the first half has been countless now and the latest movie to join this list is Batti Gul Meter Chalu. Again a promising and entertaining first half hasn't been carried into the second. There was a quite irritating thing about the movie "the local language of Uttrakhand,Garhwal spoken by the lead actors". The makers, in pursuit to make the movie as real as possible took this idea too far. The problem was that most of the population would have heard this language for the first time and above that phrases in the language were quite repetitive. But this is not the biggest problem of the movie because the audience will get used to this as the movie progresses. In fact, the director and writers have made two other fatal mistakes viz. 1. A very serious issue like electricity problem has been dealt through comical instances in courtroom 2. They never looked sure about what they want to show in courtroom which was supposed to be the most important part of the movie.

The biggest drawback here is the courtroom drama which is supposedly used to be the biggest strength for this kind of movies. We have movies like Jolly LLB 1 and Pink which have set standard in courtroom room drama and it is usual for audiences to compare them with these masterpieces. Nevertheless, the movie has its strengths which lie in its taut screenplay, honest and believable performances especially by Shahid Kapoor. The 161 minutes of duration never felt too stretched due to some clever written dialogues and good editing.

Direction Director Shree Narayan Singh continued to talk about social issues which he has done so successfully in his last outing in "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha". But this time he misses the mark with the treatment of the subject. In toilet he dealt the subject through serious dialogues and drama, while here he chooses to solve the electricity bill problem through comedy. The comic elements in courtroom drama were no surprise as the original Story writer Vipul K. Rawal has previously written Rustom where he used the same humor elements. The direction in the last 30 minutes where the courtroom proceedings unfolds is simply chaotic and confusing. An issue like power cut and wrong electricity bill which is so pervasive and so relatable has to be dealt seriously and he did that only in the first half. The dialogues in those courtroom scenes were sexiest and felt out of place just to evoke cheap laughter. It seemed that the director and writer forgot the real case at hand and tried to target too many things at the same time. Screenplay and story The screenplay and editing is top notch and the movie is brisk which was expected as Shree Narayan Singh as an editor has previously given gems in the form of Special 26, Baby and A Wednesday. The storyline is quite courageous from Vipul K. Rawal in the way he has written the love triangle between Shahid , Divyendu and Shraddha. One will find a hint of freshness in this love triangle. Cinematography Cinematography by Anshuman Mahaley is quite authentic as he captured and used the scenic Himalayas in the backdrop very beautifully. The setting of Uttrakhand looked original and kudos to the makers for shooting in the real locations of Uttrakhand. Performances and Characterization The lead cast has done a fine job. Shahid Kapoor as witty advocate gets into the skin of the character and has given a brilliant performance. His expressive eyes in emotional scenes were a treat to watch. The supporting cast especially Atul Srivastava who played Divyendu's father's role deserves a special mention here. He touches heart whenever he is on screen. The biggest led down here is Yami Gautam who got nothing much to do except getting objectified through sexiest remarks. After watching her in this movie one will feel sorry for her as one would except her role as defense lawyer to be as important as Boman Irani's in Jolly LLB.