One should create a new category of award called THE BEST
COMEBACK MOVIE AWARD for ENGLISH VINGLISH and Sridevi should be awarded as the
BEST COMEBACK ACTRESS. I will not be surprised if both the film and the
Sridevi’s performance turn out to be the best of the year. According to
bollywood standards, after a hiatus of 15 years, actresses turn into mothers
and mother-in-laws on the silver screen because they are not young enough to “lead”
a story. But Sridevi breaks those shackles by choosing possibly the most
respectable comeback role for an actress of her stature. It only takes a few
minutes of the film to realise that the sheer and charming innocence of Sridevi
has not faded with time. Loyal fans can go nostalgic by her lively screen
presence itself.
English Vinglish is easily the most pleasing films of the
year. Though predictable, you will still find yourself synchronising all your
emotions with the leading character. English Vinglish is the story of an
un-attended and uncomplaining house wife Shashi, whom her husband titles as
“Born-For-Making Laddus “. She is constantly subjected to insensitive mocking
by her daughter and husband for her poor English. Her daughter is embarrassed
to the core, for her mother let her down in a PTA meeting because of the same
problem. Speaking fluent English has become a matter of self esteem for Shashi.
The real problem starts when Shashi has to go alone to New
York to attend her niece’s wedding. After her humiliation in a struggle for ordering
a coffee at a Manhattan Cafe, she joins a 4-week English learning program to
regain her much yearned self-worth. While instilling a mix of feelings from
Lump-In-Throat to joy, the whole story unfolds like a beautiful flower
gradually blossoming in spring time. The director has beautifully weaven all
the scenarios around Shashi, hence conveying her quiet resilience and
vulnerability in the most possible touching way.
From the other characters to the surprisingly humorous guest
appearance, nothing in this movie has been exploited beyond necessity. The
casting of the class room characters was pitch-perfect, giving a taste of a
typical cosmopolitan class room to Indian audience. The classroom scenes filled
the movie with some healthy humour, nicely centered on the characters’
weaknesses in English imbibed in them due to their respective cultures. The
best part of the movie lies in those natural scenes of shashi and Laurent,
where language becomes no barrier to convey what they feel. While the French
man Laurent showers his avid admiration for Sashi in his already romanticized
language (French is a romantic language
indeed), Shashi is bound to strike a chord here by conveying something
many-a-women can relate themselves to. It’s the scenes like these that fill you
with a feeling of warmth and at the same time, makes you retrospect on the way
you have treated your women in the past. Concealed within Every situation
Shashi has faced, lies a message to be conveyed reminding us how the things
have shaped up around us exactly the way they were not supposed to.
But it’s the performance of the Sridevi, which nails
everything in this movie rightly down to its place. From a neglected housewife
yearning for self esteem to a woman rediscovering her much vulnerable
self-worth, Sridevi delivers a charming performance despite the huge gap. She
pins all the emotions immaculately, especially when her character finds itself
flying with confidence and enjoying the fresh air of its solace independence in
the Big Apple.
ENGLISH-VINGLISH will not only make you laugh, cry, think
and inspire, but also leaves a chilling reminder that, even in this information
age of 21st century, there are women in our society who are still
treated as mere “ BORN-FOR-LADDU-MAKING” types.
