'English Vinglish' made me happy vappy

I have never been a Sridevi fan, far from it actually. Her obnoxiously big eyes with weird choices of contact lenses and outrageous eye lashes were enough to keep her at bay during my teens, let alone her screechy voice. But the lady had to be back yet again on the big screen after 14 years!  Such is her appeal and talent they say.  I tentatively chose to watch the film, simply going by what I had read and some appealing shots in the trailers and ofcourse Sridevi, in a more believable avatar – sans crazy hair, crazy clothes, catty lenses and super human lashes! And I gotta say I am ready to forgive her for the heavily MTIied hindi she doled out almost all throughout the film. Sri was delicious as Shashi – the middle-aged house wife struggling to earn her family’s respect by learning ‘English Vinglish’ – the latest offering from the house of the talented husband- wife duo – R. Balki and Gauri Shinde – this being Gauri’s debut film. Needless to say, the Director shares her husband’s panache of of achieving something extraordinary from the ordinary and mundane.

The opening scene is a treat not just in terms of visually striking vignettes of a home maker’s morning chores, but for it will remind you of your mothers and aunts and sometimes yourself and touch you in the most unexpected way. You might just  let out a sigh when Shashi would never be able to touch her freshly brewed coffee she so wished to savor with the morning newspaper in ‘Hindi’, tangled in the ‘family first’ habit our mothers and aunts are so given to doing. Gauri Shinde’s strength is her deep understanding of the character of Shashi, her dignity of character, her compassion, her compromises and her struggle, along with which she had the advantage of having Sridevi to essay the role to near perfection. Without a change of heart here, I would still think that Shashi’s character could have been played by anybody, since all you need for a film like this is a sensible and sensitive filmmaker, but I am unable to think of a fitting replacement – such was the prowess of the actor – simply put, Sridevi had me this one time!

Thankfully, the husband did not have to be a wife abuser to bring home the simple fact that the ‘lady of the house’ is not important enough and treated with an affectionate disdain by the kids. The French guy’s openly declaring his love for Shashi didn’t have to be confronted with an immediate rebuttal our archetypal Hindi cinema married women are so given to doing. Missing her exam also results from a simple yet believable reason - no ill ‘dadi’ dying or her dear son falling ill etc. The much anticipated speech by Shashi in ‘English’ (ofcourse!) was wrapped up till it reached a believable point in the film –‘the wedding’ (the toast!). Her taking English lessons did not have to be revealed to the family in the famous Bollywood way of ‘great revelations’ with wide eyed, open mouthed amazement, but subtly, through unspoken acts and implied suggestions. Despite the spotlight on Shashi all the time, the film is also about the husband, who has to carefully strike a balance to not offend the ‘chronically low in self esteem’ wife, when he clarifies that it was only his affectionate praise when he said, ‘she is born to make ladoos', and when he  attempts a hug in the airport to appease her.

If I try very hard I can give you only a couple of things that I might have changed in the film – the rather tacky line, ‘when a man cooks it’s art, and when a women cooks it’s duty’ and when the otherwise relatively sensible husband declares that his wife’s English is not very good just before Shashi demonstrates her newly acquired English language skills. Both could have been suggested less evocatively. But the final ‘speech’ was very much in keeping with her stream of thoughts, no heavy philosophizing, but a simple message, inspired from her simple life, just like the overall appeal of the film. Amit Trivedi’s music and Sabyasachi’s clothes add to the perfect mood of the film and Amitabh’s cameo role only added star value, though this film hardly needed any of that. I particularly liked the girl who played Shashi’s niece in the film and Mehdi Nebbou did elicit some eye candy moments for me and needless to say, Adil Hussain is an actor who I wish to see more often, and the fact that he belongs to my home state only makes the experience more exciting. 

Note: This review had to be written in its pure gushy mood which was in effect till few hours back, this is a rather watered down version, incase I did not gush enough, and hence you decide otherwise about the movie, I pray, don’t, because it guarantees one thing – ‘a stupid grin on your face’- and who would not like that!