Udta Punjab

Cast	:	Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjh
Director	:	Abhishek Chaubey
Screenplay	:	Sudip Sharma, Abhishek Chaubey
Cinematographer	:	Rajeev Ravi
Music	:	Amit Trivedi
Editor	:	Meghna Sen
Producer	:	Balaji Motion Pictures & Phantom Films
Release Date	:	June 17, 2016
Length	:	2 Hours & 29 Minutes
Language	:	Hindi

My Thoughts

Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab is a hard-hitting film that effectively portrays what drug addiction could do to people. It also subtly hints that nothing is more important than self-respect and any kind of struggle is worthy enough to not lose it.

Tommy (Shahid Kapoor) is a celebrated singer who is famous for his party songs that glorifies alcoholism and drug intake. He is a drug addict himself, but eventually realizes his mistake when he finds that people idolize him, get inspired by his songs and end up as drug addicts. A Bihari girl (Alia Bhatt) who aspires to become a hockey player, but is sent as laborer to landlord. She tries to make money out of a pack of drugs that she accidentally finds in the field. However, she herself becomes a victim. She would not only be forced to take drugs, but also be physically abused. Being strong and resolute girl, she gets over the addiction with determination and finds a way out of the darkness. Sartaj (Diljit Dosanjh) is a police officer who ignores crimes related to drug abuse until he finds that his younger brother is addicted to it. With the help of kindhearted doctor/activist Preet (Kareena Kapoor Khan), he finds out the source of such drugs in the market. They also find out that the local politicians back these drug manufacturers resolute to bring the story to people’s notice.

As you can see, Sudip Sharma’s very complex story. There are four stories, interlinked to one another by a common subject – drug abuse. When one uses for pleasure, another uses by force. When one ignores the fact, another fights against it. At the end, they are united by their determination to be free from it. The editing could have made the movie crisper, sometimes it feels never-ending. Some of the dialogs stays in our heart and the background music is good. Cinematography is equally good. Songs are average though.

Alia Bhatt’s performance as the nameless, fearless girl brings heartache. It is very disturbing. Shahid Kapoor’s transformation from the carefree Tommy to the disturbed man redeeming his mistakes is phenomenal. Diljit’s innocence is beautiful and Kareena’s portrayal of selfless Preet makes us wonder if we are doing anything worthy enough in life.

Overall, Udta Punjab is more than drug addiction. It emphasizes on self-respect - no self-respecting man would choose drug addiction and toss his core character to an unreachable height!

Don’t miss it…

Let’s unite and pledge to free ourselves from our addictions –regardless of how big or small it is!

Rating

3/5