Udta Punjab - Film that deserves to be seen for a problem that needs to be addressed!

Divay Agarwal

Udta Punjab, one of the most controversial film this year finally released in theaters after the whole censor board and digital leak fiasco! But the question is, is it really worth all of this fuss? And the answer is simple: Yes, it is.

Abhishek Chaubey’s film confronts the drug-ridden state of the youth in the land of five rivers and puts it across our pseudo ‘cool’, unaware generation and does it tremendously well. The best part was that he didn’t try to create an exaggerated over the top world of Punjab full of extra mileage dialogues, rather kept things very real and natural. Kudoz to that! 

Udta Punjab is a story of Punjab, the state whose 74% of the youth is under substance abuse and is told through four characters :- Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor), a pop superstar who hold ups on cocaine, Pinky (Alia Bhatt), a bihari hockey player, who landed up in Punjab as a farm labourer who gets involved in a substance abuse fiasco, Sartaj Singh (Diljit), a policeman who takes up a battle against the drug lords after his younger brother falls victim to addiction and Dr. Preet (Kareena Kapoor) who does everything she can to make Punjab a drug free state. What happens when these 4 lives come across each other is the narrative of the film.

The first half is pretty engaging as it’s the first time we see a Punjab we knew nothing about. All the characters setting in, their stories, and the drug menace really intrigues the audience. The second half sort of slows up, drags a bit and character transitions don’t add up somewhat especially for Tommy Singh. It gave me a feeling that the director didn’t go all out at some points and there’s something missing from the film which makes the ending a little abrupt. But on the whole, the film gives plenty to think about.

Talking about the performances, it’s Alia Bhat once again that surprises you with her immense talent and some very smart and bold choice of work she’s taking up! There’s a scene where her character outbursts with emotions, amazingly done by the young actress. One could feel her pain, her anguish! Kareena did a fine job as doctor Preet. Shahid on the other hand was good in bits and pieces, but overall he didn’t impress much as the popstar Tommy. However, the show stealer for me was Diljit Dosanjh who absolutely nails it in his debut. He was as natural as one can get, brilliantly depicting the almost perfect emotions effortlessly! Even the rest of the supporting cast did a great job.  

Bottomline: The film definitely deserves to be seen for a problem very dangerous that needs to be addressed at the earliest. So go watch it in theaters and stand for the film, stand for its motive - ‘Drugs Di Maa Di’, stand for what’s right! 

Rating - 3.5/5