TRAFFIC SIGNAL: Stay off it

The promos of Madhur Bhandarkar’s 'Traffic Signal' claim that this is the final chapter in his trilogy about the darker side of Mumbai. But like ‘Corporate’ and ‘Page 3’ (to a lesser extent), the film merely gives audiences an introductory course in the who’s who of the city’s mean streets. It’s no better than a ‘Bambai dekho’ peep show, spiced up for maximum effect and littered with crass cardboard characters. Neither does it narrate a crushing tale about the brutality of the city’s underbelly (like ‘Chakra’, ‘Ardh Satya’ or any of Saeed Mirza's films did), nor does it provide any entertainment. It’s one of those half-baked films that only scratches the surface and worse, pretends to be serious cinema.

But he seems more comfortable sketching street vagrants and beggars than he was with corporate bigwigs in his last film. Even in this one, the so-called elite who travel in fancy imported cars, look and dress very down-market. Either the director has never travelled south of central Mumbai, or he’s not prepared to look for actors who can pass off as Mumbai’s high society. Despite achieving commercial and critical success, Bhandarkar continues to cut corners and compromises on authenticity (which, ironically, is his chief claim to fame).

Thematically too he’s on a weak wicket. He tries to throw in a large number of characters from different walks of life, all of whom are seen crossing just one traffic signal in the city. There’s a multi-crore rupee industry shaped by people who eke out a living at the city’s traffic lights, either peddling goods or begging for alms. Bhandarkar focuses on a group of such people and the privileged lot who either choose to ignore them, or give them something out of guilt or greed for blessings.

All we get is a fleeting glimpse into the lives of this motley group. But in his attempt to toss in too many elements, he doesn’t hold on to any specific thought and spends the entire first half just establishing the subjects of his scrutiny. There’s no semblance of a plot, no depth or shade to any character, and no complexity in the narrative. You see a lot of prostitutes (of both sexes), eunuchs, drug addicts, street children, ugly politicians, lecherous policemen, scheming land sharks and afeem-snorting underworld dons. None of them have any individual characteristics that might draw the audience into their story.

The poor are uniformly kind and unified; the rich are all insensitive and self-serving trash. It reminded me of Anand Patwardhan’s equally skewed documentary called ‘Bombay Our City’, which depicted all slum-dwellers in the city as noble, hard-working souls and contrasted it with a coffee-table discussion in a plush South-Mumbai drawing room about the menace of these squatters who are spoiling the beauty of the city. Like Patwardhan’s film, ‘Traffic Signal’ relies more on sensationalism than an objective evaluation of the clash of classes and the deep-rooted divide between the haves and have-nots in India’s commercial capital.

The only plus that I took away from the film was Ranvir Shorey’s spellbinding performance as a doped out addict who hangs around the said signal and tries to con people into giving him money for his daily dose of drugs. He’s a fine actor indeed.

Bhandarkar is reportedly starting work on his next film called ‘Fashion’. Going by the National Award winning director’s track record, it isn’t difficult to guess what that one might have in store. Which is exactly what makes Madhur Bhandarkar an uninteresting filmmaker to watch.

Deepa Gumaste