SONALI CABLE
Genre : Drama
Director : Charudutt Acharya
Cast: Ali Fazal, Rhea Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Smita Jaykar, Swanand Kirkire, Raghav Juyal
With the liberalisation policies showing their results, the country is in for a massive socio-economic change. Be it the neighbourhood grocery store, the sabziwala in the bylane or the cable operator of the colony, all of them are facing the heat of the big boys entering their arena. They are either forced to shut shop or join the gang as an employee. But somehow, this grassroots conflict between the local and global is not getting reflected in our films. Writer director Charudutt Acharya attempts to turn the focus on the issue by setting his story around internet service providers.
Sonali Tande (Rhea Chakraborty), a feisty Maharashtrian girl, who runs an internet service business in a Mumbai neighbourhood with the help of a local politician (Smita Jaykar), faces the threat of a shutdown when a multinational player Vaghela (Anupam Kher) decides to take over the broadband business in the city. Beneath this cable war, Acharya has sewn a social and romantic tapestry for the politician’s son Raghu (Ali Fazal) is in love with Sonali, something his mother doesn’t approve of because of Sonali’s social status. Daughter of a disillusioned political activist (Swanand Kirkire), who spent his blood and sweat for change, she has inherited the genes of a fighter. There are back stories of the members of Sonali’s team led by Sada (Raghav Juyal), promising a layered narrative.
At the heart Sonali Cable is the same old story of an underdog taking on the top dog but it is the setting that makes it contemporary and relevant. It comments at the management education that doesn’t leave scope for ethics in business. Acharya puts the finger on the pulse when Sonali shows the Vaghela’s lackey how a small Ganpati and the Lalbaughcha Raja walk on the same road during Ganesh Utsav in Mumbai. Each one has its value in mind of the subscribers of faith. Or the way her aged customers complain of the lack of personal touch in the behaviour of multinationals where computer programmes do most of the talking.
However, after setting us up for an explosive story, Acharya suddenly takes the foot off the pedal and Sonali Cable becomes a business of diminishing returns after intermission. As he gets desperate to generate dramatic tension, Acharya draws from the book of clichés to make the elephant dance in front of the ant, the parable that defines the intent of the film. There are no clear solutions for the economic model that we have adopted and it is better to showcase the flux rather than come up with some flimsy tricks that the filmmaker resorts to sum up the proceedings. It indicates lack of bandwidth to handle a complex subject which can’t be as binary as black and white.
Rhea is too urbane to play the Maharastrian girl conscious of her middle-class upbringing in front of U.S.-returned Raghu. The cuss worlds don’t come naturally to her and a desirable screen presence is not always enough to cover the lack of depth in the performance. Trying to be brave and bubbly at the same time, Rhea falters in the crucial second half. No such problems with Ali though. He is emerging as the strong supporting actor to female leads and Anupam Kher’s good form continues as he presents a fascinating caricature of a Marwari tycoon whose brain is as calculative and focussed as a computer.
Bottomline : Relevant and riveting in parts, Sonali Cable ultimately fizzles out because of connectivity problems in the script
