Angrezi Medium Review: Irrfan Khan Lifts this mediocre film through his terrific performance.

Angrezi Medium is the sequel to 2017 hit Hindi Medium which spoke about a couple trying to send their daughter to English Medium school. In the new installment, a father tries to send her daughter to England for further studies. 

Angrezi Medium takes us to Udaipur where Champak Bansal (Irrfan), owner of ‘The First Original Ghasiteram Mishthan Bhandar’ lives with his family. His daughter Tarika (Radhika Madan) has one dream - to study in a university abroad. 

And with this, begins an exciting ride as we laugh, cry and laugh again (actually, we laugh a lot) along with Champak, his brother Gopi (Deepak Dobriyal) and Tarika. The film’s first half introduces all the major characters and allows us to be a part of Champak’s world (and get used to his thick Rajasthani dialect). An amusing subplot, that is cleverly included in the main story later, is also set up. 

In the garb of showing Tarika’s story, the film tries to highlight the modern generation’s fixation with foreign countries. Tarika’s dream to go to London has less to do with academics and more about experiencing the life that youngsters enjoy in the West. 

The story of Angrezi Medium, however, is not as simple as it looks. Apart from showing a father’s unconditional love for his daughter, the film also lightly touches upon other themes. The current generation’s fascination with going abroad for higher studies, the misunderstandings that often crop up between parents and children, the importance of being there for your family when needed and how, in some remote areas, a girl needs to face various challenges to even be allowed to pursue her dreams. These layered themes, however, appear to be forced, much like the humor in some scenes, and cause the film to lose its direction at times. This is the reason the film feels a bit stretched in the middle. 

Written by Bhavesh Mandalia, Gaurav Shukla, Vinay Chhawal and Sara Bodinar, Angrezi Medium's first victory comes with its use of language. The film's characters speak a Rajasthani Hindi that is a pleasure to listen to, its rhythm rib-tickling to those of us unaccustomed to it. At no point is it used to caricature the characters speaking it though. I did at first wish for subtitles, but after the first half-hour, it grew on me. 

Irrfan is pitch-perfect in every frame. His dialogues strike an instant chord with you, his eyes talk to you, his smile and tears make you laugh and cry with him. Angrezi Medium makes you realize that he was missed by the audiences as much as he would have missed facing the camera. It’s largely known that Irrfan shot for Angrezi Medium while he was still undergoing treatment, but not for once you can make that out while watching him onscreen. 

Radhika Madan plays the role of the innocent rebel but it is a weaker performance, especially after her pitch-perfect turns in Pataakha and Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. 

Kareena Kapoor Khan makes the most of her role as Naina Kohli, a police officer, and Dimple Kapadia delivers a fine performance as her mother, Mrs. Kohli. 

Pankaj Tripathi and Kiku Sharda also make us chuckle with their quirky acts and Ranvir Shorey makes his presence felt despite the small role. 

Finally, Angrezi Medium, a potentially good film, falls prey to poor execution and a weak screenplay. And in the end, it is power packed performance from Irrfan and Deepak that saves this sinking ship and lets it sail through.