Udta Punjab

The film opens with a jaw dropping scene when a big packet of drugs is casually flung over by a discus thrower from the other side of the border to be picked up by a 'business' partner in Punjab. This, sets the tone for the rest of the film, which slowly and disturbingly unravels the horrors of the deep and prevalent drug menace in the state. Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor) is the popular pop star of Punjab, he's talented, he's obnoxious, he's Gabru and he's dangerously dependent on drugs. Young Tommy has lost control of self as the potent combination of drugs and heady fame rules his life.

Udta Punjab has sadness in its cold heart and speed running through its pulsating veins. Within its two-and-a-half hours running time, the film takes swift turns from one emotion to another; from pity at the drug-addled Punjab to unavoidable amusement at a motor-mouth druggie's expense, from anger at the system that has nurtured the modern day Sodom and Gommorah that is Punjab to impassioned hope when you see that change is indeed possible from within, only if a few bravehearts come together.

'Udta Punjab' reverberates in the finest combination of a superb Bollywood team of best cast, producers and crew that managed to dish out a film portraying the dingy reality of current times on the silver screens. Even with the 'cream team', it couldn't be spared from controversies and allegations resulting the film to be marred and scrutinised much before its release.

Abhishek Chaubey's Udta Punjab is littered with standout scenes, but none matches the sledgehammer impact of the climax. Sudden, quick on the draw and stunningly to the point, it brings the curtains down on a profane, dystopic vision of a state that was once India's bread basket but is today burdened with a whole slew of problems, not the least of which are the horrific repercussions of narco-terror. Chaubey tells his powerful, sinewy story with great dramatic flair, but he never ventures too far away from the harsh reality of the nexus between the drug kingpins and the state's politicians.

A daringly ambitious take on the prevailing drug menace in India's land of five rivers - PUNJAB . Balaji Motion Pictures and Phatom's enormously hyped UDTA PUNJAB directed by Abhishek Chaubey is loaded with quirky, cynical tone, black humour and prized performances. Ironically, Abhishek Chaubey's movie which has finally kept its date with the audience made minimum sense to us on what was the whole censorship drama all about.

First off, is Udta Punjab worth all the fuss? I'd say, absolutely. Not because it is a perfect film. It has flaws. But this is the kind of film that has something to say, and it says it with both flair and conviction. Flying is both a metaphor and reality of drugs. Anyone who's done a line, or snorted some stuff, or shot up, knows what it feels like - you are untethered, you are afloat. It's another matter that you come down with a thud, and it feels so awful that you are shooting up again, and that's your vicious cycle.

UDTA PUNJAB starts off with a scene at the India-Pakistan border wherein a Pakistani man throws a mysterious drug packet onto the Indian side. This is followed by a 'rocking' introduction of the rockstar Tommy 'Gabru' Singh (Shahid Kapoor) and a glimpse into his 'addictive' lifestyle. One day, Tommy Singh gets fired by his producers for delaying their recordings. If that wasn't enough, Tommy Singh also gets arrested by the Punjab police amidst his birthday party, on grounds of drug abuse.

There's an old joke about how two smack-heads score their fix in an unfamiliar new city. They stand on opposite sides of the road, and one tosses an imaginary length of rope while the other grabs and fastens it. The first person to duck under the rope as he walks by is the man to ask. Going by Udta Punjab, the entire land-of-five-rivers is full of people tripping over non-existent lines. (As well as, of course, lines that are all too real.) Despite the three disclaimers forced onto this movie, the backdrop really isn't fiction.

Truth be told, a movie which highlights the sad affairs of a state being addicted to drugs, is not easy to watch. The hard realities of how drugs are smuggled from across the border, and the ruthless people behind this business is what director Abhishek Chaubey brings to light in Udta Punjab. However, he majorly tracks the journey of 4 individuals, Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor), Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh), Dr Preet Sahni (Kareena Kapoor Khan) and Mary Jane (Alia Bhatt) whose lives are deeply affected by this menace.

Welcome to Chaubey's Punjab; a world you may not inhabit, but cannot ignore. As notorious as Mexico in the current context, the state that is known for wrestlers and wheat, serves up heroin, opium, cocaine faster than parathas and lassis. Yes, Punjab the land of the five rivers, is a description only reserved for the text-books. In reality, it's a place besieged by cartels, cocaine and corrupt cops.

Set in Punjab, which is soon turning into Mexico as one character points out, Udta Punjab revolves around four lives- Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor), a coke-snorting rockstar, whose addiction to nose candy is sure to cause his downfall, Preet Sahani (Kareena Kapoor Khan), a doctor on a mission to end the menace of drug abuse in Punjab, Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh), a cop, who earlier turned a blind eye to the flourishing drug trade, but has now decided to fight it when tragedy struck home and a migrant from Bihar (Alia Bhatt), who stumbles on a drug smuggling operation and ends up being an addict.

And it finally happened! The most talked about film of this year, Udta Punjab, has finally managed to get a proper release this week, After having dogged with various controversies with regards to its much discussed battle with CBFC, the film has now fallen victim to online piracy two days before release! Does the film have the the potential to get over this roadblock and become the huge hit in the careers of Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh?

Four lives in Punjab are dealing with the truth of substance abuse. While Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor) is a fading superstar who needs cocaine for inspiration, Pinky (Alia Bhatt) is a Bihari immigrant who works as farm labour and mistakenly lands up with substance worth a huge sum. After failing at an attempt to sell the stash, Pinky is captured by local hooligans who supply drugs and also pull her into the addiction.