TRAFFIC SIGNAL

Madhur Bhandarkar has a penchant for stories that expose different aspects of modern society. And he imbues his movies with an element of realism. After the hard-hitting 'Page 3' and 'Corporate', the unconventional filmmaker completes his trilogy with 'Traffic Signal', which attempts to take you into the world of people making a living on traffic signals.

The characters in the film are straight out of life: beggars, petty sellers, goons, prostitutes, drug addicts, gays and pedophiles etc.

One by one, the film takes a peek into the lives of these characters. But the story lacks a common thread. Instead of a linear plot, the story keeps shifting tracks for most part of the film. The assorted and disjointed subplots only make the first half of the movie a collage with little meaning. The movie picks up in the second half, after a murder. And the conclusion to the story is very unconventional by Bollywood standards.

Yet 'Traffic Signal' keeps the audience interest alive for most part of its running time. And the credit should go jointly to Bhandarkar and the actors for portraying the characters with conviction.

And some of the characters are indeed interesting. There is Silsila (Kunal Khemu), the manager of Kelkar Marg signal who collects hafta from those 'working' at the signal. There is Rani (Neetu Chandra), who sells traditional clothes at the signal. There is Noorie (Konkona Sen Sharma), a prostitute who solicits customers at night. There is Dominic (Ranvir Shorey), a drug addict telling his sad stories to everyone. And there is Haji (Sudhir Mishra), a local Mafioso to whom all the money collectors from signals give their share.

At many instances it appears that Madhur wanted to shock his audience by bringing forth certain aspects of lives of these people which laymen may never have known. For instance, the man who begs during day goes to see a movie in a posh multiplex at night. Or beggerboys buying fairness cream from their day's labour. Or a gay who offers his services to those willing to take.