'Madras Cafe' - Taut, Exceptional Political Thriller

Plenty of the credit for the tonal correctness of the narrative must go to Kamaljeet Negi's brilliantly unadorned cinematography, which locks in on stunning visuals of violence and espionage-related action without falling into the mistake of making the frames look prettier than the grim situation that they are meant to capture.

Sircar's editor Chandrashekhar Prajapati imbues a documentary style mood to the footage. But the sense of cinematic expansiveness is retained in the way the camera moves through the characters' restless lives, searching for positions of comfort in a situation laden with desperate anxiety.

There's a whole lot of stifled drama in "Madras Cafe". When a key character dies in the second-half, the tragedy is handled without fuss. John's tight-lipped performance gives the film a sense of tragic grandeur. We constantly feel we are in a territory where drama has no place. The soundtrack is exceptionally honest. Shantanu Moitra's background music underscores every scene without hammering in the emotions.

"Madras Cafe" is a dark deep and satisfying film about the politics of separatism. The film doesn't take sides. If it is against anything, it is the culture of violence that nations often feed into neighbouring countries for their own gains. This film opens up the hitherto unexplored genre of political drama in Bollywood.

After "Vicky Donor", we know Sircar is comfortable exploring innovative cinematic territory. Here, he tells an edgy disturbing provocative but rational and fair-minded story that takes mainstream Bolywood cinema kicking and screaming into a new horizon.

This is cinema signifying a coming-of-age with unforgettable visuals and drama and a rousing mature career-defining performance by its leading man.

Get off the train, baby. This is arguably the best political thriller that Bollywood has so far given us.