Pataakha Movie Review: The Battle Of Siblings Goes Rural

Vishal Bhardwaj has a unique style of filmmaking by choosing the famous works of literature from writers like Shakespeare and Ruskin Bond. Most film adaptations are shot in such a way that they are just perfect to cater the Indian Audience. Pataakha is one such story which is quite rooted and gives a delicious taste of Rajasthani flavours.

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The film revolves around two sisters Genda aka Chutki (Sanya Malhotra) and Champa aka Badki (Radhika Madan) based in rural Rajasthan despite being siblings, they fight with each other like two tigers pitted against each other in a gladiator fight. The fight begins from childhood to adulthood with fist fights to strong cuss words which invite an audience from different walks of life, courtesy of Dipper (Sunil Grover) who secretly enjoy these fights. The only person who is torn between these fights is Bechara Bapu (Vijay Raaz) who is the father of the sisters. The real chaos ensues when both the girls are married to their respective grooms and the grooms turn out to be brothers, which means that the fight between sisters is definitely going to happen once again.

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Sanya Malhotra, who was one film old with Dangal is featuring in this amazing film and she literally goes into the skin of a village belle in this one ranging from her accent to her body language. Her character looks like a sudden transition from a Haryanvi to a Rajasthani.

Radhika Madan, who became a household name in small screen industry with her character Ishani in the popular TV show Meri Aashiqui Tumse Hi has literally grabbed a life-changing opportunity with the role in this movie. Her dancing skills have been portrayed beautifully in this film and we can hope that she does better films like this in future as well.

Sunil Grover, who is well known for his diverse comical characters in various TV shows has an impeccable comic timing as the shrewd and manipulative Dipper who adds too much spice to the fights. He has a very strong career in Bollywood if he takes such important roles in forthcoming films.

Vijay Raaz is the surprise element who is laced with comic timing and anger when he spots Champa smoking a beedi and how he informs about the ill-effects of smoking to the girls. He is a big treat to watch in the film.

Vishal Bhardwaj and Gulzar have a long time association for more than a decade and this time it proves that Gulzar is the captain of the ship when it comes to writing lyrics for the songs. My personal favourite is Balma which is sung by Rekha Bhardwaj and Sunidhi Chauhan which has been laced with rustic elements thanks to Rekha's voice which brings that feel in it.

The rest of the cast also plays well in their roles especially Namit Das who has a very good comic timing when he speaks to Badki on the phone. 

With the original story written by Charan Singh Patnaik properly retained, Vishal Bhardwaj adds another film in his coveted list of critically acclaimed films.