Before
going for this much praised venture by all, I had a few questions in
mind that “Is this film giving too much emphasis to the importance of
knowing and speaking ENGLISH unnecessarily?” Or “Is it just another film
supporting the idea of English language and its superiority in this new
global village of 2012?”
But thankfully, all my doubts didn’t come true as ENGLISH VINGISH
doesn’t venture into that arena at all and is actually a well made film
about an Indian housewife’s self-pride and her regained confidence. Its
director Gauri Shinde’s debut venture executed
beautifully, which neither offends the people fond of using English in
their daily conversation, nor it forgets to feel proud of our own Indian
languages lead by Hindi. So there is no debate being discussed here
about the importance or superiority of English language all over the
globe and the film simply revolves around an emotional and socially
relevant family plot which needs to be seen by everyone in the family,
especially the kids.
In
few words, it’s a simple film full of many enjoyable & emotional
sequences which are pretty close to what we daily face in our routine
lives. Having said that, the new age (nuclear) families in the cities
today, may not face this problem due to their higher educational
upbringings (of both husband & wife). But still majority of our
Indian population faces many similar problems with the language,
cleverly depicted in the film without going over-board.
EV begins calmly with the charming Sridevi
returning on the screen in her simplest avatar. She straight away wins
your heart with her elegant presence and makes the viewer realize that
no one can ever look more innocent on the screen than Sridevi, even
today. The first half of the film is a complete winner as it never
stresses upon the language, has some really good soothing songs and also
holds a very entertaining pleasant surprise for the viewers, which is
going to impress them all unanimously. Plus I really loved the way Sri
declares intermission with an adorable Michael Jackson step right in the
middle of a foreign street forcing you to fall in love with her
respectful character played effortlessly.
Post
intermission, the proceedings become a little slow and the script
doesn’t progress with the same energy of the first half. No doubt,
impressive sequences keep coming in after every few minutes but still I
strongly felt that the writer/director could have avoided the
intentionally added love angle in the script used quite elaborately.
Because due to this one insertion and all that tension generated towards
the climax, EV does not turn out to be that exciting post intermission
as per the expectations raised by its initial hour. The fun element goes
missing in this crucial moment which eventually affects the momentum
for a while. However it all ends on an impressive note and you are bound
to have tears in your eyes watching Sri’s last speech at the wedding
rendered superbly. In fact this concluding scene of the film clearly
reveals the reason why the veteran is widely considered as one of the
most talented actresses witnessed by the Indian Cinema till date by one
and all.
Regarding its inspirational factor, EV has only got some slight resemblances with the famous comedy serial ZABAAN SAMBHAAL KE or with its original version MIND YOUR LANGUAGE
but nothing more than that since it actually deals with a completely
different subject about a housewife and her personal fight to prove
herself in front of her husband and kids.
Apart
from its admirable simplicity, EV also has an impressive Background
Score and some good soothing songs well composed by the talented Amit Trivedi.
And he is fast becoming the most sought after music director by the
thinking directors of such off-beat subjects. Cinematography adds a lot
to this lovable venture along with a balanced art direction and a decent
costume designing which catches your attention.
ENGLISH
VINGLISH is purely a Sridevi film from start to finish and the reputed
actress rightly chooses a good script which was just perfect for her
much awaited come-back. Interestingly the subject of this film is also
quite close to Sridevi’s Television debut in the serial titled MALINI IYER (2004)
wherein she played a South Indian girl adjusting in a Punjabi family.
But here since the setting is changed to English and the foreign
locations, so the canvas gets much bigger with a mass appeal. And after
watching it, you cannot even imagine anyone else doing the role of
Shashi in ENGLISH VINGLISH with such innocence and conviction. The
character wins over the viewers in just a few minutes and then you take
her home along with you after that memorable final scene written &
performed thoughtfully.
Priya Anand
as Sridevi’s niece strongly stays there in the film along with Sri and
the girl has got both the looks as well as the spark to do a bigger act.
Adil Hussain, as her husband and Sujata Kumar as her elder sister perform well in their important roles along with Sulbha Deshpande,
who is a complete natural making an appearance after a long gap. From
the cast playing Sri’s co-students at the English class, French actor Mehdi Nebbou
says a lot with his expressions and acts fine but strangely there is no
explanation given in the movie for what he actually says in all those
French dialogues. And talking about the surprise element which I would
not like to disclose…………, he is truly magnetic.
Moving
ahead than just being a film for your entertainment, ENGLISH VINGLISH
also gives two important messages to the society, particularly to the
Indian Society mentioned below :
One,
it’s really not fair to consider the humble house wives taking care of
our homes as the least contributors in our daily life or in our
materialistic growth (as done by the husband in the film). If truth be
told then they are actually the “Base Makers” of that delicious “Life Pizza” we
all keep on enjoying day after day without any routine hassles and
obstacles. In straight words, whatever peace of mind we all working men
enjoy in our daily 10-12 office hours, is all due to that ‘someone’ who is there taking care of our food, clothing and everything in that house called HOME without
making a single complain at all. So those silent home-makers strongly
deserve an equal status and respect by every single person in the family
without any questioning.
Secondly,
it’s about the delicate issue of the changing relationship between the
growing kids and their parents in our present age families. The issue
gets highlighted through two child actors in the film namely Shivansh Kotia (Sri’s son) and Navika Kotia
(her daughter) who has a problem with her mother’s inability to speak
English. The girl feels insulted by this and takes no step to teach or
help her own mother overcome this minor problem in her life, which she
could have done easily. And this is the other issue which deals with the
“Respect Factor” needed to be maintained between the
parents and the growing kids of our families, who in most of the cases,
think to be much more knowledgeable and ahead then their own parents
& grandparents in many fields.
It’s
a known fact that the world is fast going through many technological
and social changes which reach the younger generation much sooner than
all the other age groups. But that doesn’t mean that the young ones are
allowed to make fun of their elders (or tease them) taking advantage of
their advanced knowledge about the surroundings as shown in the film.
Ideally it’s the duty of the younger generation to teach or to take
along their parents and let them enjoy the new blessings of this
advanced world too as they rightly deserve it. The mistake is finally
realized by the daughter in the film while Sri delivers her emotional
wedding speech in the end with twinkles in her eyes and their loving hug
brings the family back together as never before.
Therefore, ENGLISH VINGLISH is a film which deserves to be watched not only by all those HOUSE WIVES who need to re-invent themselves urgently but its even a more essential watch for all those HUSBANDS and the KIDS since it has got a valuable lesson for them too in its 135 minutes of entertainment.
So do watch it with everyone in the family together and have a good time.
Rating : 3.5 / 5
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