Movie Review : Udta Punjab (2016)

Release date: 17th June 2016
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Rating: 4.25/5

Hardly does a movie come with the burden of expectations that Udta Punjab carried on its shoulders. And though this might not be counted among the greats, it is definitely a movie that will be remembered for some time to come. A well knit plot, rock solid performances, hard-hitting sequences and a very vivid message - Udta Punjab is more a well-done project than a film-maker's creative whim.

The story revolves around the lives of four young individuals - eventually melting into each other, thanks to the drug menace in Punjab. A drug-crazed pop star, a Bihari immigrant girl who unwittingly falls in a drug trap, an ordinary policeman who resolves to fight the system from the inside and a doctor specializing in rehabilitation who becomes his aide.

Abhishek Chaubey, with the likes of Ishqiya & Dedh Ishqiya under his directorial belt (and a slew of others as a writer), does a fantastic job of bringing alive the Punjabi heartland. There are characters and episodes thrown here and there who are very believable, and even manage to evoke a few laughs in an otherwise dark subject - without being over the top (SRK in Rab ne bana di Jodi is what I call 'over the top'). 

The performances of the four leads are immensely commendable. Shahid amazes once again with a maniacal portrayal of Tommy Singh. His roles in Kaminey, Haider and now in this movie show how he can bring his mad-game on - a persona that is quite in contrast to his real life image. Alia delivers another gem and it is beyond brilliant how she pulls off this pitiable, de-glam role with as much elan as she jives with to 'Saturday Saturday' and 'Chull'. Diljit and Kareena's portrayal is as heart-warming as their story in the movie, and one can only hope we see the pair in an out and out romance sometime soon.

It's remarkable how some of the new age directors are able to sketch characters not as much through episodes/ incidents but through long sequences of them reflecting in their loneliness. This helps a lot in the way one connects with the turmoil going through the head of both Tommy and Alia.

All this is superbly complimented by a fabulous background score. Amit Trivedi's compositions are mesmerizing as always. From the trance beats of Udta Punjab, the playfulness of Da da dasse to the soulfulness of Ik Kudi, his music is as contextual as it can be without losing his trademark flavour.

Hats off to everyone in this movie for handling such a controversial issue and doing it successfully. 

Walking, Fast and Slow

I think I was in the seventh grade at this time.

I was walking from one end of my school to the other. We were days away from some school event and there were a lot of 'things to do'. Suddenly, I had this impulse to jog, and when I say jog, I mean more of running lightly than walking quickly.

My mind quietly told me that jogging, instead of ambling along, could actually turn out to be a time saver. It almost sounded ridiculous to one part of me but I jogged nonetheless.

Over the years, this turned into quite a habit. And I am anything but an athlete. Let me try to define this whim of mine. I jog when traversing a path from A to B such that,

distance (A, B) <= 50 meters.

An incident last year bore testimony to how deeply rooted this habit was. I had barely recovered from a knee dislocation and was standing at my table when someone called out to me. Subconsciously, my limbs commanded me to sprint. I almost tripped before my voluntary controls took over and slapped my reflexes shut.

Cut to yesterday. In one of those reflective shower moments, I found myself asking, "Could this really save any significant amount of time, ever?"

A depleted Android pedometer app and good old Google came in handy to look for an answer.

My pedometer tells me I register ~5000 steps on an average working day (I am discounting weekends for this exercise since walking activity is bound to be more erratic on those days). I can be sure I do not have my phone on me for ~20% of my walking trips on the office floor.

Therefore, average steps per day = 6000

* assumptions/ facts in blue, calculations in black

I am assuming I can (and do) jog half of the times I need to displace myself. So, our calculation base will be 3000 steps.

Average comfortable walking speed of an individual = 3 kmph (this is stated to be 5 kmph here but my experiments with a pedometer point towards this average)

Moderate jogging speed (that which looks socially acceptable) = 5 kmph (lower end of what the internet calls as jogging speed)

Average step size = 70 cm (some adjustment done)

Thus, Distance traveled = 3000 * 70 / (10^5) = 2.1 km

Time saved by jogging = (2.1/ 3 - 2.1/ 5) hrs = 17 mins

Weekdays in a year ~=  250

Time saved in a year = 250 X 17 = 4250 mins = 71 hours

To put this into perspective, let's see what use I could put these additional hours to.

• Indulge in a marathon of the seven seasons of Game of Thrones. Nah, I haven't and I don't want to watch the Game of Thrones. BOOM. There, I said it.
• Go around 3/80th of the world if I were Phileas Fogg.
• Spread these 4250 minutes cautiously over the entire year and snooze the alarm by 10 mins every frickin' day!
• Watch Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar 24 times, which is still five short of the number of times I have seen it already
• Play Justin Bieber's Baby 1140 times on loop which is merely 1,391,730,521 times less than the number of times it has actually been played on Youtube.h

Or, write about 140 of such pointless posts!