Metro In Dino movie image

Anurag Basu’s Metro in Dino holds a mirror to today’s society much like the first movie Life in A Metro. Metro In Dino is a mostly gripping concoction of emotions and humor making you laugh as well as reflect. Pankaj Tripathi as Monty successfully takes over the mantle from the late Irrfran Khan. As a flawed husband he is both charming and also heartfelt in the emotional sequences. Sara Ali Khan’s track turns out to be the weak link partly salvaged by a charming Aditya Roy Kapoor

Starcast: Pankaj Tripathi, Konkana Sen Sharma, Fatima Sana Sheikh, Ali Fazal, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Neena Gupta, Anupam Kher, Saswata Chatterjee and others

Genre: Romance

Story, screenplay and direction: Anurag Basu

Dialogues: Sandeep Shrivastava and Samrat Chakravarthy

Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Taani Basu and Anurag Basu

Production Companies: T-Series Films and Anurag Basu Productions

Music: Pritam Chakraborty

Cinematography: Abhishek Basu and Anurag Basu

Running time: 2 hours and 42 minutes

Life In A Metro released in 2007 was a romantic drama exploring different topics like extramarital affairs, the sanctity of love etc. The city of Mumbai where the different tracks take place simultaneously was also a character in itself reflecting the hustle and bustle along with the ambitions of making it big. The movie received widespread acclaim for the gripping narration, music and fantastic performances. Life In A Metro is widely considered to be one of late Irrfran Khan’s best work and rightly so, the actor was a sheer delight to watch with his wackiness, his track with an equally good Konkana Sen Sharma was the highlight of the movie.

Late Irrfran Khan and Konkana Sen Sharma

After a huge gap of 18 years Anurag Basu returns back with a spiritual sequel with similar strands and new additions. Like Life in a Metro the locations in this movie also become a character in itself perfectly reflecting the various moods and the emotional upheavals which the characters go through. The story of Metro in Dino focuses on numerous individuals spanning different age groups and cities. Pankaj Tripathi and Konkana Sen Sharma are Monty and Kajol respectively. The two are going through a major midlife crisis, the marriage has lost the spark. In order to escape from the boredom Monty takes the aid of a dating app leading to a lot of chaos. Ali Fazal’s Akash and Fatima Sana Sheikh’s Sruthi on the other hand are a young couple dealing with a major conflict of ambitions and a secured life. Neena Gupta and Anupam Kher play two lonely souls Shivani and Parimal respectively. For most part of her life Shivani has been stuck in a family rut not thinking about what she enjoys. All this changes during a college reunion. Lastly Sara Ali Khan’s Chumki and Aditya Roy Kapoor’s Parth are your typical gen z with issues commitment phobia and clash of ideas regarding the institution of marriage and what love really is. This is the story in brief.

A strong aspect of Metro In Dino is Anurag Basu’s handling of the various strands. The director has done a very good job in reflecting the contemporary society. The fast lifestyles of today and the sometimes-fickle nature of marriages has been brought out beautifully. The city audiences in particular will relate to the multi layered narrative and most would see a bit of themselves in the characters.

The use of music with Pritam and his band performing the songs has also been wonderfully integrated by Anurag Basu. It doesn’t feel jarring at any point. Much like Life In A Metro here too it enhances the various emotions which the characters go through at different points. There are also some occasions in the beginning where the main cast sing songs in the musical style of Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos. This adds an interesting touch too giving a context into the background and the situations.

Among the four tracks specific mention must be made of two. The first one being Monty and Kajol. Both Pankaj Tripathi and Konkana Sen Sharma feed off each other wonderfully, whether it’s the comic situations of Monty unknowingly chatting with Kajol on the dating app or the second half portions where Monty is desperate to make amends. It’s an absolute delight to watch the two in one frame. As a flawed husband Pankaj Tripati delivers a knockout act perfectly capturing the different shades of Monty. A specific mention must be made of the scene in the pre climax where Monty expresses his anguish about how many more times should he say sorry. Konkana Sen Sharma is also delightful as Kajol. She brings out the fierce nature as well as the vulnerability brilliantly, there is a wonderful moment in the second half where Kajol questions about her mother’s passive acceptance of the father’s infidelity and how she doesn’t want to become like that.

Through the track of Ali Fazal and Fatima Sana Sheikh Anurag Basu is successful in bringing out the clash between ambition and practicalities. Ali Fazal plays an aspiring musician with big dreams, his father also had aspirations of making it big in music however things didn’t plan out that way due to family responsibilities. The fear of unfilled dreams and insecurity takes a toll on the marriage of Ali Fazal and Fatima Sana Sheikh. The emotional upheavals of the couple have a rawness to them without trying to sugar coat. Both the actors do a first-rate job in portraying the different nuances.

The story of Shivani and Parimal also has some interesting touches. Through this track Anurag Basu tells a liberating story of an older woman breaking out of a self-created rut. The transformation of Neena Gupta’s Shivani from a doormat to becoming more independent is wonderful to watch. The conversations between her and Anupam Kher have a philosophical touch to them as well regarding how love eventually happens in most marriages. The senior actors play their parts with the right amount of gravity.

Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta

In comparison to the three mentioned above Sara Ali Khan and Aditya Roy Kapoor’s one sticks out a sore thumb. This is mostly because of a Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani and Ludo hangover. Aditya Roy Kapoor’s character feels like a mixture of Ranbir Kapoor’s Bunny and his own Akash, nevertheless Aditya plays the role with a certain charm salvaging the proceedings to some extent, the actor seems to be having a lot of fun with the quirky nature of Akash and that clearly shows in his scenes. His dialogue about how whether the so called happily married couples are really happy does work as a reflection of most relationships. Sara Ali Khan though is a major let down with her squeaky voice and poor voice modulation. There is an important scene where Chumki has to let out her inner anguish similar to the one in Life In A Metro involving Konkana Sen Sharma, but the way Sara portrays it makes the viewers feel zero emotion.

Coming to the music the songs of Metro In Dino has their own pluses, tracks like Zammana Lage sung by Arjit Singh and Dil Ka Kye by Raghav Chaitanya make for a soulful listen and a good watch. The cinematography by Abhishek Basu and Anurag Basu has a lived-in feel too. The two do a very fine job in capturing both the bustling nature of the cities as well as a certain inner loneliness.

Final word: Metro In Dino is a must watch for fans of intimate cinema.