A Tale Of Two Directors- Abhishek Chaubey And Anu Menon

Udta Punjab and Waiting are clearly major stylistic departures from their earlier films, for two of the most talented directors working in Bollywood today. 

- Maithili Rao

Two directors, and two new films, totally different, not only from each other but also their earlier work. Of the two, Abhishek Chaubey is a known name, prior to Udta Punjab. He comes with impressive credentials – Ishqiya followed by the intriguingly titled semi-sequel, Dedh Ishqiya. Anu Menon’s perfect little gem Waiting was such a stunner that it made me go searching for her antecedents. Her previous film, London Paris New York that I had missed earlier proved fairly delightful viewing after I saw it recently. The two unrelated films provide a gourmet meal to be savoured, chewed, ingested and speculated upon. She is a director to watch out for.

It is fascinating to follow the path a director takes from the safe to the perilously adventurous – in theme, location and style. With all the free publicity courtesy the dangerously self-righteous stupidity of our Sanskari censor chief, Udta Punjab raised expectations that were bound to be sky high.

Naturally, there is a niggling sense of disappointment, of the final product not matching the hype. The film is not without flaws, yet is destined to remain an important landmark for its uncompromising expose of the drug trade and the ravage it wreaks on the young. In the process, it shatters our comforting stereotype of Punjab – prosperous, living life large, the fun-loving and feisty granary of India. Udta Punjab punctures our preconceived expectations of Balle Balle frolicland, with precision, unexpected compassion and wry cynicism. This is Green Revolution 2, observes a hardened cop on the take, part of the police-drug trade nexus. The writing duo, Chaubey and Sudip Sharma, who wrote the implacably grim