A brilliantly shot film, in the appropriate landscape makes Madras Café a very realistic experience. The movie deals with political issues like the assassination of a Prime Minister and the integral part RAW agents play on the ground, during the skirmish. As a viewer you are bound to gain insight into the genocide that led to the revolution of 1976 and the formation of the LTTE in Sri Lanka portrayed by the LTF in the movie.

The writers did not choose a patriotic approach to the issue at hand but shed light on the darker aspects and the reality which the protagonist, Vikram Singh, is left to face after he has served his part. This is a fresh take at trying to capture our country’s history on film, leaving out the glory and holding on to the callous truth. Through the character of Jaya played by Nargis Fakhri, who is a war correspondent, we see the journalistic approach to search for the truth behind the revolution and not blindly accept our government’s take on the issue.

Through brilliant editing they captured the emotion of the genocide of the Tamils that took place in Sri Lanka and the visuals compel you to accept the harsh truth of the destitute and their insignificance in our lives. This acts us a wakeup call to all of humanity to awaken the self and not be numb to the occurrences that are taking place today, around the globe. The recreation of the war zone was very authentic.

The gun fighting sequences were rather disappointing with their archaic and traditional approach, they even have the protagonist run and save his dying friend from the frontline. Even the audio aspects of the gunfights were quite unsettling.

Throughout the movie, the acting was the missing link. John Abraham as the lead, Vikram, failed to grasp my attention for longer than a few minutes which left me feeling drowsy in the second half.

This film can be seen as the beginning of a new genre in Bollywood where scripts revolve around the hidden actions of the government agencies, bad politics and war zones. As Indians it is not our job to inculcate a feeling of pride in every other Indian through cinema but to show everyone the stark reality of our existence and the flaws of our system.

The outcry of the public against the release of this film seems absurd and provides another reason why as a society we need to evolve. There is nothing that depicts Tamilians in bad light in the entire movie but instead sheds light on their will to fight for survival.