Wednesday, 7th May 11:50 AM IST

Pluses:

crisp screenplay, pitch perfect dialogues, interesting plot, subtle yet real performances

Minuses:

romantic song does not fit in narrative, story does not move forward in later part of 1st half

Critic Rating:

4.5/5

Business Rating:

2/5

Verdict:

Watch this perfect social satire in this election season

Detailed Analysis:

General election fever has gripped the nation and that is why Bollywood is trying its luck with few political/social satires. 'Bhoothnath Returns', Dekh Tamaasha Dekh' and 'Kaanchi' were few such films and now national award winning director Janaki brings us 'Yeh Hai Bakrapur'.

Film has rather interesting plot. A small village gets its first celeb in form of goat who is named Shahrukh. Unlike what promo suggested, film does not mock superstar but on contrary it sheds light on his popularity and reach. This goat becomes the most important individual in village and medium to earn huge sum of money for very poor Qureshi family. But does this goat possess any special power, how goat becomes bone of contention between Hindu and Muslim form the rest of the story.

Performance wise, Anshuman Jha is perfect as street smart guy of village who is catalyst of this story. Asif Basra as Qureshi probably delivers best act of his career with utmost honesty. Suruchi Aulakh is extraordinary as greedy and needy housewife. Yoshika Verma is strictly average though she looks the innocent girl of village. Shameem Khan is hilarious as unemployed henpecked husband and Amit Sial is good in cameo as political leader.

Editing is crisp and cinematography is decent. But the real hero is writing department. Its so crisply written especially in 2nd half including climax that it becomes a gem of the film. Layered social intricacies has been brought in rather entertaining manner. Success of the film lies in conveying almost every social evil and issues in rural India with complete objectivity, be it communalism  or poverty or petty politics or media frenzy.

But yes its director Janaki Vishwanathan who not only triumphs as writer but also as director. She won National award for her film Kutty way back in 2001 but this one proves her command over medium. Film is impeccable and that credits goes to director for handling such delicate issues and rustic settings in such light hearted manner. Even use of name Shahrukh is very smart and does not hurt even die hard fans of star.

Film will release day after tomorrow and should get 300 plus screens. Film will get quite a stiff competition from last week's  'The Amazing Spiderman 2' and 8-9 new releases of this week especially 'Hawaa Hawaai'. Film should open with modest numbers and will need good word of mouth to survive at box office which it should get to an extent if not universal!

Go for this one for rare relevant powerful yet fun social satire!