FILM REVIEW: VIRUDDH (2005)

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, John Abraham, Sanjay Dutt, Prem Chpora, Sachin Khedekar
Director: Mahesh Manjrekar
Producer: ABCL

Mahesh Manjrekar, who hasn’t savored success after the gut-churning Vaastav is also treading a fine balance, opting for a Saaransh-style film with Sharmila Tagore and Amitabh Bachchan. To be sure, John Abraham beefs up the proceedings but it’s the senior citizens who take on the mob in Virudh.

Vidyadhar Patwardhan (Amitabh Bachchan) is happily married to his wife Sumitra (Sharmila Tagore). Both are retired - whilst Vidyadhar was a ground manager at Air India, Sumitra was a school principle. They live a tranquil and peaceful life together.

Their only son Amar (John Abraham) comes back home from London, with a UK bred girlfriend (Anusha Dandekar), which both of them, take in their stride.

The ideal world of the Patwardhans turns upside down when Amar witnesses a crime and is killed when he intervenes. And, then begins a battle. The elderly couple seeks justice for their dead son and to get his name cleared from the accusations that he was a drug peddler.

It is in this struggle many aspects of the special bond between Vidyadhar and Sumitra come to the fore - their love, trust, support and confidence in each other.

The elderly couple’s battle begins with faith in the system, goes on to disappointments yet they fight against all oddities, till they loose; only to get on extreme means, to prove their sons innocence. The only thing, the old couple pines for.

Is Viruddh a desperate attempt by faltering Mahesh Manjrekar’s to salvage his career? Mahesh Manjrekar has not savored the taste of success after Vaastav. He tried his hands at various subjects like ‘Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai’ and ‘Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav’ but his movies were devoured by critics and viewers alike. Mahesh has carried with him his strengths of Marathi drama, Middle Class Marathi ethos and social facets. He gives his best in similar settings. So if Vaastav was a fine attempt and Astitva his best till date, he once again scores in Viruddh.

Devoid of any songs the movie stays close to its theme. Viruddh steadily involves audience as a member to milieu of Patwardhan family. The movie has no convoluted storyline with different plots. It just has two parts of Patwardhan family- first with their son and second without him. And both these parts are paced in measured way.

Is Viruddh a remake of Saaransh? Hardly! Unlike Mahesh Bhatt’s Saaransh where aged parents try to come to terms with solitude after their son’s death, Viruddh is about an elderly couple trying to rise up to fight against the system. The setting is similar but yet they are starkly different from one another.

This year certainly belongs to Big B. We have already seen his histrionics in Black, Waqt and Sarkar. Now, Viruddh proves that he is a performer par excellence.

Sharmila Tagore is a pleasure to watch. John Abraham’s performance gets better with each movie. No matter big or small each actor got an author backed role. Be it Sanjay Dutt (Muslim Car Mechanic), Prem Chpora (Sikh), Sharat Saxena (south Indian) or Shivaji Satam (Parsee). Sachin Khedekar as a police officer is quite commendable.

The first half of movie drags a bit but this song-less drama may well touch your soul. Watch it for Big B.

RS Rating: 7/10

Credit: This review was submitted by Ankit Jain of Footprints.in. They run their own movie Blog at DCECinemas. To submit your own review for posting on radiosargam.com please email.

Your Reviews

"It’s a Mahish V. Manjrekar movie …. so I thought it’s gonna be as bad as his recent movies but it turned out the opp. It was a good movie .. I really enjoyed watching it especially it’s about family drama, it’s about the systems of society and it was emotionally powerful and gratifying." - A. R. Rahmaan Fan.

"What a movie! I had thought it would be another of those arty-sharty type of movies, the ones that are preachy, long and boring, and i only went to see it because Baba had a few scenes in it. Now, I am soo glad that I saw it." - hailBilla.

"A wonderful movie... guys watch it with your family... A. B. superb , Sharmila so natural (unlike Hema Malini with heavy make-up & designer sarees), John was good and rest cast acted their part well too... totally a simple and touching movie." - simply me.

Write & Submit Your Review @ RS TalkBollywood Forum

Related Links
Movie Stills
Audio Soundtrack
Video Trailers
RS Film Preview
Desktop Wallpapers