English Vinglish is a well made film about an Indian housewife's self- pride and her regained confidence. Its director Gauri Shinde's debut venture executed beautifully, which neither offends the people fond of using English, nor it forgets to feel proud of our own Indian languages lead by Hindi.
EV begins calmly with the charming Sridevi returning on the screen in her simplest avatar. She straight away wins your heart with her elegant presence and makes the viewer realize that no one can ever look more innocent on the screen than Sridevi, even today. The first half of the film is a complete winner as it never stresses upon the language, has some really good soothing songs and also holds a very entertaining pleasant surprise for the viewers, which is going to impress them all unanimously. Plus I really loved the way Sri declares intermission with an adorable Michael Jackson step right in the middle of a foreign street forcing you to fall in love with her respectful character played effortlessly.
Post intermission, the proceedings become a little slow and the script doesn't progress with the same energy of the first half. No doubt, impressive sequences keep coming in after every few minutes but still I strongly felt that the writer/director could have avoided the intentionally added love angle in the script used quite elaborately (Can't we make films without any love triangle?). The fun element goes missing in the crucial moment of its final hour which eventually affects the momentum for a while. However it all ends on an impressive note and you are bound to have tears in your eyes watching Sri's last speech at the wedding rendered superbly.
Regarding its inspirational factor, EV has only got some slight resemblances with the famous comedy serial Zabaan Sambhaal Ke or with its original version Mind Your Language but nothing more than that. Apart from its admirable simplicity, EV also has an impressive Background Score and some good soothing songs well composed by the talented Amit Trivedi. And he is fast becoming the most sought after music director by the thinking directors of such off-beat subjects. Cinematography adds a lot to this lovable venture along with a balanced art direction and a decent costume designing which catches your attention.
English Vinglish is purely a Sridevi film from start to finish and the reputed actress rightly chooses a good script which was just perfect for her much awaited come-back. Because after watching it, you cannot even imagine anyone else doing the role of Shashi in the film with such innocence and conviction. The character wins over the viewers in just a few minutes and then you take her home along with you after that memorable final scene written & performed thoughtfully.
Priya Anand as Sridevi's niece strongly stays there in the film along with Sri and the girl has got both the looks as well as the spark to do a bigger act. Adil Hussain, as her husband and Sujata Kumar as her elder sister perform well in their important roles along with Sulbha Deshpande, who is a complete natural making an appearance after a long gap. From the cast playing Sri's co-students at the English class, French actor Mehdi Nebbou says a lot with his expressions and acts fine but strangely there is no explanation given in the movie for what he actually says in all those French dialogues. And talking about the surprise element which I would not like to disclose , he is truly magnetic.
Moving ahead than just being a film for your entertainment, English Vinglish also gives two important messages to the society, particularly to the Indian Society mentioned below: One, it's really not fair to consider the humble house wives taking care of our homes as the least contributors in our daily life or in our materialistic growth (as done by the husband in the film). If truth be told then they are actually the "Base Makers" of that delicious "Life Pizza" we all keep on enjoying day after day without any routine hassles and obstacles. So those silent home-makers strongly deserve an equal status and respect by every single person in the family without any questioning.
Secondly, it's about the delicate issue of the changing relationship between the growing kids and their parents in our present age families. The issue gets highlighted through two child actors in the film namely Shivansh Kotia (Sri's son) & Navika Kotia (her daughter) who has a problem with her mother's inability to speak English. The girl feels insulted by this and takes no step to teach or help her own mother overcome this minor problem in her life, which she could have done easily. And this is the other issue which deals with the "Respect Factor" needed to be maintained between the parents and the growing kids of our families, who in most of the cases, think to be much more knowledgeable and ahead then their own parents & grandparents in many fields. Ideally it's the duty of the younger generation to teach or to take along their parents and let them enjoy the new blessings of this advanced world too as they rightly deserve it. The mistake is finally realized by the daughter in the film while Sri delivers her emotional wedding speech in the end with twinkles in her eyes and their loving hug brings the family back together as never before.
Therefore, English Vinglish is a film which deserves to be watched not only by all those House Wives who need to re-invent themselves urgently but its even a more essential watch for all the Husbands and Kids since it has got a valuable lesson for them too in its 135 minutes of entertainment. So do watch it with everyone in the family together and have a good time.
EV begins calmly with the charming Sridevi returning on the screen in her simplest avatar. She straight away wins your heart with her elegant presence and makes the viewer realize that no one can ever look more innocent on the screen than Sridevi, even today. The first half of the film is a complete winner as it never stresses upon the language, has some really good soothing songs and also holds a very entertaining pleasant surprise for the viewers, which is going to impress them all unanimously. Plus I really loved the way Sri declares intermission with an adorable Michael Jackson step right in the middle of a foreign street forcing you to fall in love with her respectful character played effortlessly.
Post intermission, the proceedings become a little slow and the script doesn't progress with the same energy of the first half. No doubt, impressive sequences keep coming in after every few minutes but still I strongly felt that the writer/director could have avoided the intentionally added love angle in the script used quite elaborately (Can't we make films without any love triangle?). The fun element goes missing in the crucial moment of its final hour which eventually affects the momentum for a while. However it all ends on an impressive note and you are bound to have tears in your eyes watching Sri's last speech at the wedding rendered superbly.
Regarding its inspirational factor, EV has only got some slight resemblances with the famous comedy serial Zabaan Sambhaal Ke or with its original version Mind Your Language but nothing more than that. Apart from its admirable simplicity, EV also has an impressive Background Score and some good soothing songs well composed by the talented Amit Trivedi. And he is fast becoming the most sought after music director by the thinking directors of such off-beat subjects. Cinematography adds a lot to this lovable venture along with a balanced art direction and a decent costume designing which catches your attention.
English Vinglish is purely a Sridevi film from start to finish and the reputed actress rightly chooses a good script which was just perfect for her much awaited come-back. Because after watching it, you cannot even imagine anyone else doing the role of Shashi in the film with such innocence and conviction. The character wins over the viewers in just a few minutes and then you take her home along with you after that memorable final scene written & performed thoughtfully.
Priya Anand as Sridevi's niece strongly stays there in the film along with Sri and the girl has got both the looks as well as the spark to do a bigger act. Adil Hussain, as her husband and Sujata Kumar as her elder sister perform well in their important roles along with Sulbha Deshpande, who is a complete natural making an appearance after a long gap. From the cast playing Sri's co-students at the English class, French actor Mehdi Nebbou says a lot with his expressions and acts fine but strangely there is no explanation given in the movie for what he actually says in all those French dialogues. And talking about the surprise element which I would not like to disclose , he is truly magnetic.
Moving ahead than just being a film for your entertainment, English Vinglish also gives two important messages to the society, particularly to the Indian Society mentioned below: One, it's really not fair to consider the humble house wives taking care of our homes as the least contributors in our daily life or in our materialistic growth (as done by the husband in the film). If truth be told then they are actually the "Base Makers" of that delicious "Life Pizza" we all keep on enjoying day after day without any routine hassles and obstacles. So those silent home-makers strongly deserve an equal status and respect by every single person in the family without any questioning.
Secondly, it's about the delicate issue of the changing relationship between the growing kids and their parents in our present age families. The issue gets highlighted through two child actors in the film namely Shivansh Kotia (Sri's son) & Navika Kotia (her daughter) who has a problem with her mother's inability to speak English. The girl feels insulted by this and takes no step to teach or help her own mother overcome this minor problem in her life, which she could have done easily. And this is the other issue which deals with the "Respect Factor" needed to be maintained between the parents and the growing kids of our families, who in most of the cases, think to be much more knowledgeable and ahead then their own parents & grandparents in many fields. Ideally it's the duty of the younger generation to teach or to take along their parents and let them enjoy the new blessings of this advanced world too as they rightly deserve it. The mistake is finally realized by the daughter in the film while Sri delivers her emotional wedding speech in the end with twinkles in her eyes and their loving hug brings the family back together as never before.
Therefore, English Vinglish is a film which deserves to be watched not only by all those House Wives who need to re-invent themselves urgently but its even a more essential watch for all the Husbands and Kids since it has got a valuable lesson for them too in its 135 minutes of entertainment. So do watch it with everyone in the family together and have a good time.