Mahesh Manjrekar must be a pleased man. Viruddh was his last chance to prove that his talent was not a flash in the pan. He managed to do that in style with the able support of Amitabh and Sharmila.
The plotline reminds you of Saaransh. The story revolves around the life of a old aged couple living alone in amchi Mumbai. The only son studies in London. Lot of urban Indians can easily identify with the situation. The couple shown as Maharashtrian helps the filmmaker to create an ambience with well defined characters. The son comes home for his birthday with a surprise packet - his live in girlfriend. The parents are shown fairly liberal who accepts and mesmerizes the ’’bahu’’ with their love and warmth. Just observe the scene when Sharmila oils Jenny’s (Anushka) hair to get rid of the color streaks. But tragedy strikes when the son is killed in a scuffle inside a parking lot. The villain is but obviously the son of the Home Minister (ever wondered why the villain in Hindi movies is always connected to the Home minister and not to the say Agriculture Minister). After that the movie revolves around the trials and tribulations of the old couple till Amitabh takes justice on his own hand.
The award givers will definitely be in a fix this year. Amitabh just blows away everyone with his performance in this movie. It is one of his best performance till date. But Sharmila also has done an exceptional job in this movie. The scenes between the senior actors has been crafted with care and reflects the director’s theatrical background. Sunjay Dutt, John Abraham and Anoushka serves their purpose in the scheme of things.
One small nugget of information. The actor who played the son of the Home minister is the same guy who played the lead in N Chandra’s Kaagar.
The only black spot in the movie is the advertisement of various products like engine oil, paint, banks etc built in the scenes. It acts as a discordant note but I suppose the makers need the money to make the movie.
Watch Viruddh to see how great performances by the lead couple makes an ordinary movie extraordinary.