Media matters

In keeping with the trend of increased women-centric films releasing of late, this week sees two releases-‘Noor’ and ‘Maatr’. Adapted from a 2014 novel Karachi, You’re Killing Me, ‘Noor’ is a film directed by Sunhil Sippy and set in an urban, upper-middle class milieu.

Focusing on the media world, the electronic media in particular, the director warms up to his film only 45 minutes after its running time. Playing the title role of an under-utilised, frustrated journalist, Sonakshi Sinha stumbles on to a major story which is an incident in the life of her domestic help.

Chasing it till the last, she delivers it to her boss, who is skeptical and not too keen on airing it. Before long, events overtake her in the form of pressures and threats, along with the betrayal she suffers at the hand of one of her male acquaintances. How she comes out, phoenix-like, to meet her cherished dream and raise herself in her own eyes is what the rest of the film is made of.

In contrast to the ‘kalamwali bai’ kind of an image tagged to female journalists in the earlier films like Dimple Kapadia in ‘Krantiveer’, this flick makes no pretensions of its setting, which is contemporary and connects better with young viewers.

Sonakshi plays her role with a steadiness, which enables her to enact it well. The other male characters, Purab Kohli who has an effective, understated performance and Kanan Gill, a sure-fire hit among the comedy loving young crowd, add value to the film.

For believers of social media posts and messages going viral, this is a perfect case study of how the heartfelt anguish of an urban dweller about her city (Mumbai, in this case) which is uploaded, travels far and wide and shakes up the surroundings in and around her.

However, all that seems too pre-fabricated to arrive at a happy ending as the heroine makes peace with her estranged well-wishers and emerges victorious as the world applauds her.

Sunhil Sippy even takes care to fit in the romantic angle to her life, which is depicted as one of her unrequited wishes, thereby lending a feel good effect in the dying moments of the film.

With nothing strikingly new or appealing with the story or its treatment, other than testing the box-office mettle of Sonakshi as a solo heroine, this film would not really add to her coveted list of films.

Film Name : Noor

Cast :Sonakshi Sinha, Kanan Gill, Purab Kohli, Shibani Dandekar
Direction : Sunhil Sippy
Genre : Comedy-drama
Likes : Sonakshi Sinha with a notable performance
Dislikes : Synthetic treatment to the plot

By K Naresh Kumar