By some estimates, 73 percent of Punjab’s youth are addicted to drugs. Udta Punjab is the story of addicts, drug dealers, and the helpless families trying to fight this menace. If true, this is a startling statistic. What this means is every 3 out of 4 young people you come across, are addicted to drugs.
Udta Punjab (2016)
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Stars: Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor
Release Date: 17 June 2016
The last Bollywood thriller covering the subject of drug abuse and trade was Charas: A Joint Effort, released in 2004, based in Himachal Pradesh. Charas was not received well by the audiences and the critic reviews were very poor.
However, with strong supporting cast of Satish Kaushik, Kareena Kapoor, and Imran Khan, Udta Punjab promises to be a worthy crime thriller. While Shahid Kapoor appears to take on the role of an d addict and supplier with much ease, Alia Bhatt seems a bit out of her comfort zone.
Udta Punjab Movie Review
Let me begin by saying that my impression of the movie may be skewed because a bunch of 18 year old idiots blabbering nonsense all through the movie. And I fail to see why the audiences find physical disability comical. But hey, the success of Houseful 3 should be a testament to that.
Anyway, getting back to the movie. I must say that I am very disappointed by the movie. For a Crime Drama, the movie neither tackles the drug problem from an angle of crime, nor through the eyes of the family of an addict.
Udta Punjab is about a corrupt cop and his struggle to redeem when he faces the drug problem at home. It is about a rock star who realizes that his music and glorifying drug use has lead to where addicts go to the extreme of killing family members to get their next high. It is about the aspirations of a migrant laborer who is sucked into the trade in hopes of a good life.
For all the hue and cry, the movie fails to portray the serious drug problem. In an attempt to cover crime, corruption, human weakness, and aspirations all in one story, the movie falls flat on all counts. Thinking of it as a thriller is a joke. Abusive language may be part of the characters depicted in the movie, but when you have people elated by the cuss words, I think it loses the punch the writer wants to communicate.
To look at it as a Drama, the characters lack any emotional connection with the audience. The movie tries to do too many things and half-halfheartedly focuses on too many stories. Is it worth your time and money this weekend. No.
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