ters that people it . Expletives fl y thick and fast as the action shifts from the raucous milieu of a coke-snorting Punjabi crooner ( whose songs are peppered with fourletter words ) to the world of corrupt cops ( who let drug consignments be driven in and out of the state ) to the depths of the diffi cult life of a Bihari migrant ( who sinks into a spiral of drugs and sexual exploitation ). With an intelligent combination of hardboiled cynicism and broad touches of trippy black humour , the fi lm brings alive a benighted universe where life has lost its way in a drug-induced haze . The fi lm invokes Punjab ' s great romantic poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi to accentuate the poignancy of the situation . The rockstar-protagonist sings of " a girl whose name is love and who is lost " to drive home the evaporation of charm and beauty from the lives of the youth . In the fi rst 40 minutes of its second half , Udta Punjab is literally trapped in darkness . Director of photography Rajeev Ravi lenses the night-time scenes with great skill , setting up the eventual opening out into a burst of brightness accompanied by an eruption of cathartic violence . Chaubey ' s third venture underscores , like Ishqiya and Dedh Ishqiya did , the originality of his directorial voice . He imparts heady propulsion to a grim theme and constructs an unfl inching narrative that does not shy from calling out the forces responsible for Punjab ' s undeserved plight . Udta Punjab takes fl ight without wasting a second - from the very moment the title appears on a fl ying heroin pouch hurled from across the border by a discus thrower . It cruises along at an even pace right until the crackling climax , which is shockingly bloody but remarkably effective . Chaubey ' s robust directorial style , which enmeshes sharp characterization with evocative use of music ( composer Amit Trivedi is in fi ne fettle here ), keeps the tale on the boil even during the occasional stretches where it teeters on the edge of over-articulation . A pop star Tommy Singh , a nameless Bihari migrant girl , a cynical policeman Sartaj Singh and a doctor who runs a de-addiction centre ( Kareena Kapoor Khan ) are thrown into dangerous disarray
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REVIEW ’ S
in a climate vitiated by the easy availability of drugs . Two metaphors - one delivered in the form of a physical prop , the other as a visual refrain - defi ne the plight of the pop star-hero and the girl who gives him a purpose in life . As the fi lm hurtles towards its climax , we see the male protagonist in winged shoes , but limping . On the other hand , a tourism hoarding exhorting people to " go Goa " is the only thing that the entrapped girl can see from the room where she is held captive . Both have the will but are severely held back by their circumstances , which is , by extension , a commentary on the current state of the state of Punjab itself . The character that overshadows everyone else in Udta Punjab is that of the poor farm worker played with intensity and passion by Bhatt . The girl ' s misfortune falls literally from the sky in the form of a heroin packet . Greed gets the better of her and she ends up in a hell-hole . It is ironic that the other female part written for Udta Punjab is the weakest of the quartet of pivotal characters . Played by Kareena Kapoor Khan , Dr . Preeti Sahani , whose concerted war on drugs helps the confl icted policeman out of a personal crisis , is an embodiment of righteousness . She is too perfect to be true . The director extracts solid performances from his two male actors . Shahid Kapoor , with his toned torso heavily tattooed , does full justice to the mercurial Tejinder Singh alias Tommy Singh of Phagwara , plunging headlong into the gleeful but ill-advised mayhem he represents . Diljit Dosanjh , in his fi rst role in a Hindi fi lm , plays the cop who decides to break free from the system when his own brother Balli ( Prabhjyot Singh ) nearly dies on him due to a drug overdose . Dosanjh does not put a foot wrong , playing his role with restraint . He also lends his singing voice to the fi lm ' s defi ning musical piece - a Batalvi poem set to lilting music by Amit Trivedi . But it is Alia , who despite the battering that fate has reserved for her , never loses her appetite for a fi ght . The petite actress is the fi lm ' s towering totem . The liberal use of cuss words may be too grating for some ears . Udta Punjab is not family entertainment , but it is an undeniably magnifi cent - and purposeful - commercial Hindi fi lm . Do not miss it .