English Vinglish ~ Simpलe & Fलawलess

(Hindi version)

The bilingual movie English Vinglish (Aangilam Vangilam) by Gauri Shinde & team celebrates the comeback of the yesteryear actress Sridevi.

The movie tells you the story of a typical Indian housewife, who sets out to learn English, not because of mere curiosity, but to overcome the emotional trauma of moral subsidence, to prove to herself, if not everyone, that she is not just born to make Laddu's (as her husband defines her)

The movie has Sridevi excellently portraying the role of Shashi; her husband who counts her as a combination of laddu and lust, thanks to his busy office schedules; her modern daughter, who is ashamed of her own old-fashioned-english illiterate-mother, and her little lovely son.

The movie has its real take-off when Sridevi's character has to leave all alone, to the US, for attending her niece's wedding. From then on, what the audience get to see is a pure amalgam of humor, thrill and sentiments, weaved together perfectly by the director cum writer Gauri Shinde.

No bragging, no artificial embellishments, no overflow of melodrama - the movie is hundred percent realistic, simple, down to earth and convincing. It gives you moments of joy, tears, empathy, frisson, exaltation and may be, introspection. The genre of the movie is family drama, and this, is a movie where one can easily associate himself/herself to. The characters, the pivotal ones and others in the movie are certainly those funny,.familiar and interesting characters we see in our real lives. 

A word must be spared for Mehdi Nebbou, the amazing actor from France, around whom much of the track of the story revolved in the latter half. He is one of those handful of characters, who appear in the movie as Sridevi's english tuition mates. In fact, each and every character who constitute the tution class sessions have been painted out perfectly by the film-maker: there's Mehdi - a french cook, an African introvert, a sleeping spanish woman, a Chinese girl, a Pakistani youngster and then you have a typical South Indian Tamil Brahmin. All of them along with the professor ensure a laugh riot - class humor - both verbal and visual.

Music and background score by Amit Trivedi are an icing on the cake. 

The climax of the movie leaves your eyes wet - well, my eyes were wet and the climax was followed by a standing ovation. The script of the movie reflects the hardwork, intelligence and the expertise of Gauri Shinde, from whom, much more of such movies are hopefully expected. The movie is probably an all-India movie, or even, an all-world movie - whether you are a Tamilian or a Marathi, the movie has all chances of satisfying your taste buds. The dialogues, similar to the one towards the end of the trailer of the movie, (where an Indian tells his foreign colleague 'she will manage in US, like how you manage here without knowing our language) are whole-heartedly welcomed by the audiences, thanks to the pinch of crispy patriotism these dialogues possess. 

Last but not the least, the cameo played by Amitabh Bachchan (Ajith Kumar in Tamil) was worth the wait. It was quite short but there's no denying that it couldn't have been sweeter. You'll relish it, especially if you are a Bachchan admirer.

Overall, the movie is definitely worth your money and time, provided you make sure you like light-hearted, simple, and honest family movies.

Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ / ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★


[One star uncolored - No intentions of giving full quota to any movie! ]