Subhash K Jha (DNA; May 12, 2016)
Irrfan plays a vigilante seeking redress for a flyover that came crashing down in a busy suburb of Mumbai in 2012, in Nishikant Kamat’s Madaari, which releases June 10.
Kamat admits that the film is based on the ghastly collapse of an under-construction Metro bridge in Andheri, Mumbai on September 4, 2012. But he says the real-life accident is just the trigger that takes the plot forward. He says, “The incident is just a backdrop. My film is plotted around the repercussions of this incident.”
He doesn’t deny the real-life connect, but adds, “If you recollect, my 2008 film Mumbai Meri Jaan was also based on the backdrop of a tragic catastrophe — the Mumbai train bombings on July 11, 2006. But the film was about human emotions. As usual, my attempt is to explore the complexities created by an unfortunate event.”
Kamat who is known for his remakes, goes original in Madaari. Says the director, “True, I’ve done a lot of remakes. But Mumbai Meri Jaan in Hindi, Dombivli Fast in Marathi and Lai Bhaari in Marathi were originals. So is Madaari. But even this film borrows from a real-life incident. In a sense, all art is non-original.”