Life in a Metro is disappointing!

Now, this was one movie I was really looking forward to. With Anurag Basu (whose previous works include Murder, Gangster and the forgettable Tumsa Nahin Dekha) at the helm of affairs, a winner of a sound track (Courtesy: Pritam) and an ensemble star cast, I expected the movie to be out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, Life in a Metro is an unrealistic and one dimensional take on life in metros. So, we have a host of protagonists- the over sexed Ranjeet (Kay Kay Menon) who works as a top executive in a call center; his wife, the sexually disinterested Shikha (Shilpa Shetty) who has sacrificed her professional life for the sake of bringing up her daughter; the sexually deprived Akash (Shiney Ahuja), a small time actor, unsuccessful and separated from his wife who takes an instant liking for Shikha; the will- sleep- with- anyone Neha (Kangna Ranaut) who gets hooked to Ranjeet; the will- do- anything to come up in life Rahul (Sharman Joshi) who hands out the keys to his apartment to his seniors for them to have a good time with their girlfriends and who falls for Neha's charm; the still- to- have- sex- with- anyone Shruthi (Konkona Sen Sharma) who is nearing 30, but is still unmarried and a virgin and the unlucky with sex Monty (Irrfan Khan) who is 38 and still on the look out for a wife. How these characters bump into each other and make life miserable for themselves as well as the audience is what Life in a Metro is all about. In the middle of all this, we have a cute romantic track running between Shivani (Nafisa Ali Sodhi), Shikha's Bharatnatyam teacher and Amol (Dharmendra) who happens to be her childhood sweet heart. Shivani is a widow and has been left in an old age home by her kids. Amol has returned to India after working in the US of A for 40 years. How they re unite at old age against the wishes of Shivani's kids is another track in the movie, the only interesting and progressive track in the middle of all those cliched and jaded story lines. What saves the movie from being a complete disaster is definitely the performances of the stellar cast- Kay Kay Menon is intensity personified, Shilpa Shetty is highly effective and it is good to see the actress exploring new dimensions of her acting abilities. Hope producers and directors are able to look beyond her hour glass figure in future. Kangna Ranaut is disappointing in a badly written part. Sharman Joshi is earnest. Shiney Ahuja tries but his characterization betrays him. Dharmendra does a cute cameo and Nafisa Ali Sodhi is perfectly cast as Shivani. Irrfan Khan is his usual sprightly self and Konkona Sen Sharma is simply the best! The movie definitely has some very well written, well shot and well acted out scenes- watch out for Shilpa Shetty breaking out in front of Kay Kay Menon explaining the sacrifices she has made for her family, Konkona's confrontation with her gay fiancee, Irrfan and Konkona's first meeting at a cafe, Shiney and Shilpa's scenes at Shiney's friend's place, Konkona and Irrfan shouting their hearts out on the roof top of a Mumbai sky scraper etc. But, a host of good scenes cannot really make a good movie. Anurag Basu's script is good at times, but messy most of the time. He really tests the patience of the viewer towards the climax. Pritam's sound track is excellent and the songs blend very well with the mood of the movie. But, the presence of Pritam and his band on screen while every song is being played out is a bit too jarring and invites the wrath of the audience. To sum up, Life in a Metro is regressive and disappointing, but the performances and the music save it from being a total disaster!