Metro... In Dino

A modern take that tries to recapture the charm of Life in a... Metro, but falls just short.

Anurag Basu, known for his heartfelt, layered storytelling in films like Life in a... Metro, Gangster, Barfi!, and Ludo, returns with Metro... In Dino - a film that attempts to revisit the emotional and interconnected lives of people in a bustling city like Mumbai. While it brings some strong moments and thoughtful themes, it doesn't quite achieve the narrative tightness or emotional resonance of its 2007 predecessor.

Plot Summary (No Major Spoilers): The film follows four parallel stories, each centered around love, loss, and rediscovery:

Akash & Shruti - A married couple on the brink of parenthood, struggling with financial issues and career setbacks. The stress convinces them to consider abortion, raising deep moral and emotional questions.

Parth & Chumki - Chumki, a corporate employee engaged to someone she's unsure about, meets Parth. Their relationship blooms amidst complications, offering a glimpse into modern love and hesitation.

Kajol & Monty - A married couple with a teenage daughter, facing emotional decay as Monty turns to dating apps in search of excitement. Kajol's quiet hurt is among the more affecting aspects of the film.

Shibani & Parimal - Shibani, the mother of Chumki and Kajol, is an older woman who finds companionship in Parimal after years of dealing with her husband's betrayal. Their story offers the most gentle and emotionally honest moments in the film.

Each story unfolds in its own arc but eventually intersects, mirroring the structure of Life in a... Metro, though without the same emotional impact.

What Works: Performances: The cast delivers solid, believable performances, especially the more experienced actors like Neena Gupta (as Shibani) and Anupam Kher (as Parimal). Sara Ali Khan somehow made a very decent comeback as Chumki, and Ali Fazal & Fatima Sana deliver a very nuanced performance.

Pankaj Tripathi performs immaculately, but Konkona & Aditya were very flat in their performance and didn't create much impact in the story.

Music: Pritam manages to maintain the live band sequence this time with Papon & Raghav Chaitanya, similar to Life in a Metro, and delivers a few emotionally resonant tracks that complement the tone. Zamaana Lage and Dil Ka Kya were the main highlights. But too many songs and the balance between scenes & music ratio was off compared to Life in a Metro.

Themes: The film captures relevant emotional and relational issues - urban isolation, generational gaps, infidelity, and the search for meaningful connection, but the 2nd half becomes extremely far-fetched and loses momentum later on, making the end very less tight and out of context.

Overall, this is a one-time watch. While it starts off with a good narrative, the second half becomes too stretched with too many songs, and the editing is less crisp. Maybe a tighter ending, this would've been my two cents of advice to Anurag Basu.

The movie is good in parts only.

But why have the makers portrayed only women-centric sub-stories? Why only women are being shown at the receiving end in a relationship?

Are there no unhappy or dissatisfied men out there?

A more balanced approach would have been to include at least one relationship where the man is the one who needs validation.

The only sub-plot making proper sense is that of Aditya Roy Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan. Rest all are extremely lopsided and sometimes over the top too.

Was hoping to see the magic of 'Life in a Metro' being repeated, but, that movie was at another level.

This one is a one time watch.

The story is decent, but it feels very one-sided. Every couple in the film is shown dealing with life's struggles, yet the narrative always portrays women as being suppressed and men as the sole cause of their suffering. Men are depicted almost entirely as villains. It's disappointing, because in reality men also face hardships, including depression. Just as a woman leaves behind her past life after marriage, a man does too-but this perspective is rarely acknowledged. The experiences aren't the same for both, so the film's constant focus on blaming men feels unfair.

Touches many of the current issues... appreciate the effort of making a hindi musical, but, it has been a tad bit too much of a musical.

Last 2-3 songs had me pulling out my hair.

A solid 7/10 nevertheless

Anupam kher, neena Gupta were flawless as ever. To be fair, each of the cast had their moments and performed really well.

I personally feel this should have never been a correlation of life in a metro. That movie meant so much as it was a new rendition of what small intertwined relationships were fading into a full bloom rose. The songs the actors the story line.... Man!!!! It was the perfect flim that year.

Now they remove contrasting to that flim.

No qualms no regret but the vibe is not vibing, I guess a flim of that power calibre should just be left as it is.... Untouched.

Irfan Sir thank you for that fantastic experience in that movie...and may you rest in peace. The movie metro in dino is a good movie but it's nothing great to what I experienced the first movie ( k.k menon's ) gave me.