Cinemaah

Threads Of Life

If the world of haute couture pays lip service to Indian fabric traditions, it also helps keep some of the artisans alive—even if there is equal parts altruism and exploitation involved.

Sharat Katiriya (Dum Laga Ke Haisha), takes up some of these issues and weaves an earnest, if much too long and predictable film, Sui Dhaga.

Mauji (Varun Dhawan), is like is name, a happy-go-lucky chap, from a family of weavers who have had to give up their failing trade and move to the city to do menial jobs. His father (Raghubir Yadav) has retired as a peon, and hopes his older son with his low-level job will look after the family; the younger son has left to set up home with his well-off wife. When Mauji’s silent, dutiful wife Mamta (Anushka Sharma) sees him being humiliated by his boss, she goads him into quitting the job and using his tailoring skills to do something on his own.

This premise was enough for a story of struggle and survival, but Katariya must up the obstacles; so the mother has a heart-attack and the bills are back-breaking; the quest for a sewing machine needs an obstacle race of its own; a supposed benefactor (Namit Das) turns out to be a crook. As each hurdle is elongated and exacerbated, the need for some brutal trimming is felt, more so, because the film moves towards an expected feel-good ending.

Still, a film about lower middle-class India, living in ramshackle homes, wearing ordinary clothes, coming from the Yash Raj Films banner, means a lot. It also follows that there is a budget for A-list stars like Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma to cheerfully slum it, as there is for realistic production design.

 If Mauji (and mohalla) had not challenged the snooty fashion establishment, but just become Delhi’s ‘maxi’ king, the film would have been satisfying enough. As it turns out, Sui Dhaga is so large-hearted and so earnest, it could be supported like a pet cause.

Damp Squib

So, according to Vishal Bhardwaj, India and Pakistan are like two sisters, abusing and slapping each other as they roll in mud?  Because in his Pataakha, the analogy comes up so often, that it seems as if he is trying to make a profound point about world peace.

The film is based on a short story, Do Behnein by Charan Singh Pathik, and the problem with stretching limited content to a full length feature film, is that scenes go on for too long, are repetitive, and the point is diluted, if not completely lost.

Champa ‘Badhki’ Kumari (Radhika Madan) and Genda ‘Chhutki’ Kumari (Sanya Malhotra) are the nasty, unwashed daughters of widower Shanti Bhushan (Vijay Raaz), who simply cannot teach them either good behavior or basic hygiene.  Also, Bhardwaj probably thinks village girls have dry, wild hair and stained teeth. These two foul-mouthed, bidi-smoking sisters have so many screeching and hair-pulling physical fights, for no good reason, that it gets unpleasant to watch.

They are instigated and also supported in their antics by the village creep Dipper (Sunil Grover), and lusted after by the rich Patel (Saanand Verma). But the girls, aggressive and filthy as they are, manage to get loyal suitors (Namit Das, Abhishek Duhan). They elope with the men, escaping marriage to Patel, to whom their father owes money.

They find, to their horror, that the two are brothers, so instead of escaping each other’s toxic proximity, they are bonded together forever.

The sisters are interesting only in that they have dreams they struggle to fulfill—Badki wants to own a dairy and Chhutki wants to be a teacher. Their husbands manage to keep up a situation of ceasefire, till Dipper turns up to fan the flames of enmity again.

Bhardwaj is a skilled writer and filmmaker, to the dialogue is sharp and the look-- from costumes to village homes-- just right. But he is much better at handling dramatic subjects; his earlier attempt at comedy (Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola) was just as baffling humourless as this loud tale of two thoroughly unappealing sisters. To be fair, the last half hour does make some sense, and the two actresses put as much fire and lung power as the roles demand. But this cracker is all noise, no sparkle.