One of the small-budget films that I was looking forward to since a couple of years was Buddha In A Traffic Jam. The title seemed impressive and that it’s made by Vivek Agnihotri who never stays in one genre made me a lot curious about this film. Sadly, like many genuine, honest but non-masala films, Buddha In A Traffic Jam’s release seems to have been stuck probably due to lack of interest from distributors. But when I learnt that the film will be screened at the 16th Mumbai Film Festival 2014, I jumped at the opportunity and made it a point to see it, come what may. And thankfully, I made it to the screening with excitement, without knowing much about the film at all. The idea was to get entertained and get to see a sensible and meaningful piece on celluloid. And Buddha In A Traffic Jam fulfilled my expectations and turned out to be a hatke, intriguing experience!

The story of the movie: Vikram Pandit (Arunoday Singh) is a happy-go-lucky management student from a business school in Hyderabad. After his friend Pooja (Anchal Dwivedi) is subjected to humiliation at the hands of moral police, Vikram designs a campaign on facebook that turns him into an overnight sensation. It also prompts his professor Ranjan Batki (Anupam Kher) to take him under his wings and later ask Vikram’s help to raise money for the non-profit Potter’s Club, run by Patki’s wife Sheetal (Pallavi Joshi), that helps poor people living in Maoist affected areas. Vikram is unaware that his intention of helping the poor get reasonable returns for their pottery would risk his life and arouse the interest of the dreaded Maoists.

Buddha In A Traffic Jam is divided into the following chapters:
-    Prologue
-    Chapter 1: I Am A Bitch
-    Chapter 2: A Secret Game
-    Chapter 3: The Potter’s Club
-    Chapter 4: Finding Buddha
-    Chapter 5: Freakonomics
-    Chapter 6: Left Out
-    Chapter 7: Lal Salaam
-    Chapter 8: Blink
-    Chapter 9: The Tao Of Revolution
-    Epilogue

Buddha In A Traffic Jam surprisingly begins in 2000 BC where a tribal in the village of Bastar is shown cutting woods and living in a primitive fashion. The story then jumps into 2014 AD and showcases that people still live and work the same way and that nothing has changed in these 4000 years! In this simple and hard-hitting manner, director Vivek Agnihotri puts forward his point and instantly wins brownie points. The manner in which the helpless tribals are harassed by Maoists as well as the government officials is too good. The narrative then moves from the jungles of Bastar to the ‘India Shining’ zone of Hyderabad and the lives of Vikram and his pals make for an interesting watch as well. The entry of Proffesor Batki, Sheetal, Charu (Mahie Gill) add to the interest. Also, there’s nothing conventional and typical happening in the film. Right from the moral police episode to Vikram’s life at the business school to his conversations with Prof Batki and Sheetal to the entire idea of the Potter’s Club is very fresh and engaging. Hence, one joyfully gets drawn in the film and its world. The conflicts that arise in the latter half is too good and the twist in the tale comes as a bolt from the blue. The epilogue gives a fitting finale to the film.

Sadly, Buddha In A Traffic Jam isn’t without its share of blemishes. Production values of the film are a bit tacky. The idea of showing slides of images in the beginning to better explain the current situation is done with good intentions but at the same time, it gets a bit preachy. Same happens with Vikram’s speech at the student body meeting and coffee shop – it gets preachy and maybe this aspect could have been avoided. The film is realistic but towards the finale, it gets a bit filmy. It works well but the switch from realism to Bollywoodish zone is bit sudden and hence slightly unconvincing. Moreover, the entire sequence of selling pots online and the reservations around it seems a bit dated as in today’s times, online shopping has become the norm in a way. Sadly, this is the price the film will have to pay for not securing a timely release (it was shot in 2011).

Arunoday Singh is the so-called ‘main hero’ of the film and does a brilliant job. He is totally into his character and tries his best to make it look real, vulnerable and dashing. Just like Yeh Saali Zindagi, Buddha In A Traffic Jam can significantly help Arunoday to prove his worth as an actor. Anupam Kher is the second ‘main hero’ out here and stuns with his extraordinary job! It’s also a film where he has a meaty role and also the movie has something sensible to say, in the league of Khosla Ka Ghosla, Special 26, Daawat-e-Ishq and Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami. Hence, this film probably is close to his heart and it shows in his performance. Pallavi Joshi makes a comeback in Bollywood after almost 18 years (her last Hindi film was The Making Of The Mahatma) and proves that she’s still one of the best talents around. She brings the nuances totally correct and also what’s praiseworthy is that she looks quite desirable as well. Surely, this film will help her get lot of offers in Hindi cinema. Mahie Gill has a late entry but as always, she leaves a tremendous mark. Especially in the pre-climax and finale, she delivers a stunning performance. Anchal Dwivedi (Pooja) is brilliant in the supporting role and makes her presence felt in the ‘I Am A Bitch’ episode. Gopal K Singh oozes fear as the Maoist. A performance to watch out for! The actor playing Nanhe Singh too makes his presence felt and same goes for the tribal confronted by Nanhe and the Maoist in the beginning. Asif Basra (Satyadev Dubey) is fine in the cameo.

Rohit Sharma’s music is nicely incorporated in the narrative. The most impactful of all is ‘I Am A Bitch’. If marketed well, this track can work big time! Background score adds to the mystery and thrill. Attar Singh Saini’s cinematography is raw but no complaints there. Vivek Agnihotri and Rohit Malhotra’s story is novel and at the same time, adapts itself well in the traditional Bollywood setup. It is well researched as well boasts of some interesting characters. Also, I can hardly recall any film based in a business school and hence, there’s another novelty value attached to it. Vivek Agnihotri’s direction is fair and as aforementioned, it’s great to see how he jumps from one genre to another with ease. He made his directorial debut with Chocolate and then came up with the sports film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. His third film was the erotic thriller Hate Story. Buddha In A Traffic Jam is in a totally different space and same goes for his other unreleased film Freedom! He falters at places but also manages to do justice to the story in hand. Also he keeps the duration in check (107 minutes). Lastly, the dialogues of the film are quite memorable are well worded and sharp. Hats off!

On the whole, Buddha In A Traffic Jam makes a very interesting comment on socialism, capitalism, Maoists, tribals, role of social media and role of students in bringing a non-violent revolution. The film is set in a business school and partly in Maoist-infected jungles and the goings-on, conflicts and its solutions are very novel and fresh for a Bollywood film and this goes very strongly in favour of the film. Dialogues are another plus and are quite memorable (Best one is, “Corruption is like a tonic to the economy”!). The film sadly gets a bit filmy in the finale and few scenes seemed preachy. Also, it’s a four-year-old film and a portion of the film on online shopping looks dated. And it’s unfortunate that the film didn’t get a timely release. Here’s hoping the brilliant response to the film at the 16th Mumbai Film Festival arouses interest in the movie. Also, Vivek Agnihotri should think of maybe coming out on a book on the film since the scenes of the film are neatly divided in chapters. As for viewers, don’t miss this intelligent piece of cinema when it releases in theatres!

My rating - *** ½ out of 5!


Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi & Vivek Agnihotri at Buddha In A Traffic Jam screening at 16th Mumbai Film Festival 2014