post news network
Bhubaneswar,May 19: After three weeks of Baahubali2 craze, two films Half-Girlfriend and Hindi Medium hit the silver screen in city theatres. Both films—though different in presentation—had a vital similarity. They showed how English is not just a language, but a matter of privilege.
While Hindi Medium director Saket Chaudhary deals with it in a humorous way, Mohit Suri gives the non-English speaking community the Chetan Bhagat brand of sympathy in Half Girlfriend.
The first film Half-Girlfriend starring Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor is an adoption from a novel of same name written by Chetan Bhagat. The film was directed by Mohit Suri who had given blockbusters like Aasiqui-2, Ek Villian. The film had got average response from the fans because most of the audience who had read the novel had found nothing new in the film except for few songs.
“The film was not presented in any new manner. Chetan Bhagat’s books had some uniqueness which was missing from the film. The reason for that might be absence of on-screen chemistry between the two characters,” said Sneha Mohanty, a local.
“I would read the book once again but not watch the film again,”said Ajay Patnaik.
Hindi medium starring Irfaan Khan and Saba Qamar, the paksitani actor, had presented the present condition of English medium education in the country. The story and actors received thumbs up from the cine-goers.
“The film had a strong message and they had succeeded in presenting that in nice and fine manner. Irfaan Khan is one such actor who can portray any role in a dignified manner. He played a tailor’s-assistant-turned-mega-tycoon who along with his wife played by Qamar wants their daughter to get admitted to a good English-medium school. But, their hindi-medium background is a hindrance,” Aryan Nayak said, a local.
“The film was a laugh riot in the first half. The actors and supporting actors were brilliant,” said Rina Rout.
