In 2007, Anurag Basu made a movie called Life in a metro in the year 2007 over the stress of living in metro cities and the impact of lifestyle. There has been a lot of changes in 18 years and the color from dating app to metro city has changed, so what is the effect on the relationship and Anurag has brought ‘Metro … these days’ to show it.
The pattern of the film is like an old film, different stories, which run together. There are characters of different ages, who are struggling in personal relations. In every story, some relationship is going through its crisis. Somewhere there is infidelity, some misunderstandings, somewhere loneliness, somewhere looking for identity.
The story has been carried forward through music. The cities also keep their own money. The story is shown by placing Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru in the background.
Konkona Sen Sharma has appeared in it from the old film. Dharmendra-Nafisa’s elderly pair has been replaced by Anupam Kher-Neena Gupta, on the other hand, new actors like Aditya Rai Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi have become the heart of this film.
The first comes to the fore, Kajol Ghosh (Konkona Sen Sharma) and her husband Monti (Pankaj Tripathi). As soon as Monty’s infidelity is known, the pain inside Kajol emerges as a teas. When the matter of Konkona and the comic expression of Pankaj are found, there is a feeling of deep pain along with laughter. Irrfan Khan appeared in such a Kardar in Pachhali film, who did amazing acting.
Kajol’s struggle tells the story of every woman who is tired of crushing herself in the name of Wafa, but still afraid of breaking the chains of the agreement. This part of the film will make you think whether every mistake can be forgiven?
There is a story of Shruti (Fatima Sana Sheikh) and Akash (Ali Fazal). Ali’s character shows how the relationship starts to knock when there is conformity between love.
The third pair is presented by Shivani (Nina Gupta) and Sameer (Shashwat Chatterjee), who are trapped in the monotony of years. Life has become dull. Shivani again has a flicker of youth when she meets her first love Parimal (Anupam Kher).
Kiss (Sara Ali Khan) is trying to be a good girlfriend and wife. Travel blogger Parth (Aditya Roy Kapoor) and her meeting shows new colors.
Some of these stories appeal a lot, some seem weak, some character affects a lot, and no character is able to leave the effect in the absence of proper writing. But the thread of all these is the same- love, love and confusion of relationships. Despite being raw-paved, the film holds the audience because it goes on opening the layers of human emotions.
The weaknesses of the film are also revealed, when it appears to be removing reality, some characters seem incomplete. The color of other cities except Mumbai and Kolkata does not appear. There are also moments in the 162 -minute long film when things are long drawn and repetition.
Anurag Basu has once again introduced the fatigue, freshness and conflict of urban relationships on the big screen, including the style of ‘Life in a Metro’ and ‘Ludo’. Multi-story narration, feelings immersed in music and the simplicity of relationships in the crowd of characters are also seen here.
The direction of Basu connects these stories, but sometimes the film feels shattered. Some parts touch the heart, while some are incomplete. Still the tone of the film works, where smiles, tears and memories go together.
The film’s life is the pair of Pankaj Tripathi and Konkona Sen Sharma. The chemistry of the two, the sharpness of dialogues and the ease of acting, makes this story the most effective. Pankaj Tripathi plays the role of a husband who is a funny, mistake and then a remorse. At the same time, Konkona is in the role of a strong woman who wants to get out of her mother’s shadow and take the right decision for herself.
The age -old love story of Nina Gupta and Anupam Kher gives a different view, where the age may grow, but the heart does not need a deadline to beat.
The pair of Sara Ali Khan and Aditya Roy Kapoor are fresh. Especially Sara’s acting looks better than before. The story of Ali Fazal and Fatima Sana Sheikh seems a bit weak, but Fatima pain reaches the audience.
The music of the film once again kills through Pritam. The tunes flow inside the story and sometimes describe emotions better than words.
This film should not be perfect, but it says true things about the reality of relationships and the struggle of love.
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director: Anurag Basu
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Movie : Metro… In Dino (2025)
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Song: Kaiser ul Jafri, Sandeep Srivastava, Anurag Sharma, Nilesh Mishra, Momin Khan Momin, Mayur Puri
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Musicians: Pritam
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artist: Aditya Rai Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi, Fatima Sana Sheikh, Konkona Sen Sharma, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Ali Fazal, Shashwat Chatterjee
- Rating: 3/5
