English Vinglish: Cute tale told well

English Vinglish
Starring: Sridevi, Mehdi Nebbou, Priya Anand, Adil Hussain
At: PVR & others
Rated: 8/10
This one is a made-for-Sridevi movie in which the comeback lady is as much the centrepoint as is the well-handled chhoti si lovely story.
Together the two script a becoming tale told simply and endearingly about the English Vinglish problems of a middle-class housewife and mother who is treated much like furniture of the house.
The deglamourised Sri, even at 50 plus, looks comfortable on the big screen. No, she no longer is hawa hawai girl but a well-matured actress who shows no fear in being her age.
As a woman who is a dedicated wife, who does not know a word of English, she does well to sport her insecurities and hide her anguish about being treated by her family as if she is no better than an exotic cook of laddoos who also has the special abilities to look after the house without any complaints. Her children are embarrassed about her inability to understand or speak English, a language that has come to define contemporary India with all its complexes and biases.
Director Gauri Shinde has done her best by portraying this simple yet sensitive issue with a plainness that makes the film even more alluring.
Shinde’s delicate handling of the about-to-be love story between Sri and her French classmate is handled with seasoned care — not once overstepping the measures of propriety and yet making you wish that it had fructified.
Over the years, Sri’s histrionic abilities have only matured though one must admit that her face has shrunk more than wrinkled. So, in her simple cotton sarees, her long hair and her complete negation of any kind of glamour adds to her presence in this one.
Her journey jhaazz to jazz, from no English to halting English is full of moments. Her classmates — from Spain to Pakistan to China to South India — come all fleshed out with their hilarious regionalisms as does the gay teacher who has a ball teaching this motley crowd. But beyond all these obvious-isms is the real truth — how English has become the great divide between style and scorn. Sridevi does well to unfold this reality in a very real way.
Source:Published in The Sunday Pioneer on October 7, 2012


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