EDITOR Amitabh Srivastava

Angrezi Medium is no patch on Hindi Medium One must not confuse the trailer with the film. Having read so many comments about Angrezi Medium by film stars and magazines I had rushed to watch the first show on the first day in Mumbai. (Which is normal anyway being a film critic for 25 years now beginning with the Hindustan Times I currently I write a regular film colum for The Patriot.) I was lucky because later in the day all cinema halls in Mahatashtra were closed down due to Coronavirus. Of course I was wearing a mask, the only one doing so in the theatre. But that is another story. As for the film itself I found myself dozing off in the first half. It was so slow and boring, to put It mildly. The story begins to take shape only when the 18 year old Radhika Madan whose life time mission was to go abroad for higher studies reaches London. Her real character starts surfacing only when she reaches London and realises that she can support herself and her studies by doing part time jobs. She had this trait even earlier because an 18 year old is not a kid that she does not understand her father cannot support her admission in foreign universities. The father Irrfan Khan the actor par eccellenec, for whom the film is a comeback vehicle after his tryst with cancer, realises the truth when she tells him to his face that she does not need him any more. He is heartbroken and so are we but that is so common with parents even in India who become a part of used up furniture once their utility is over. In London there is Dimple Kapadia whose daughter Kareena Kapoor leaves her alone, to show that parents should be ready to bear this shock without getting heart attacks. Of couture the film is worth a watch but only for the second half where a distraught Irrfan Khan and his always positive brother Deepak Dobhriyal manage to bring about a change in heart in Radhika Madan who is perfect in her role of a teenager torn between her dreams and her affection for her father. Viewers return teary eyed from the theatre but the film is no patch on the first version Hindi Medium which was so much more innovative and down to earth. For those who did not see the first part this one may be super hit. But comparisons will be made whether one likes it or not. The fault is that of the director and script writer, not that of Irrfan Khan, Deepak Dobhriyal, Radhika Madan or Dimple Kapadia who give a stellar performance.

This is probably the best acting display by Tapassee Pannu in her career. It will spark off discussions in every family that goes to watch it. I hope she gets a National Award for her role in Thappad where she shows that one can make a point very emphatically without going into high decibels. A must watch for mothers and mothers in law who have brain washed their daughters into submissiveness and loss of self worth after marriage.