Life in a...Metro

Stars: Shilpa Shetty, Shiney Ahuja, Kay Kay Menon, Konkoma Sharma, Irrfan Khan

Director: Anuraj Basu

Romantic fates of five couples, some of which intertwine, form the core of this Bollywood movie, where the 'metro' is, of course, Mumbai (Bombay). Naive, unsophisticated and old-fashioned by western standards, the film's moralistic standpoint means that the 'correct' couples end up with each other - even if that means the wrong decision and unhappiness for one - in a plot that steals shamelessly from such classics as La ronde, Brief Encounter and The Apartment.

Shilpa Shetty, shedding the required glycerine tears, plays a wife whose husband (Menon) is more interested in his mistress (Kangna Ranaut), who happens to be the flatmate of Shetty's sister (Sharma), a 30-year-old virgin looking for Mr Right - though it's Mr Wrong (Irrfan Khan, the best thing in the film), who gets her the job she wants.

Meanwhile, Ranaut is worshipped from afar by Rahul (Sharman Joshi), who lends out the key to his apartment (currently to Menon - his boss - and Ranaut) to further his ambitions; Shetty meets a handsome stranger (Ahuja); and her mother welcomes an old love back into her life.

Director Basu tries to give his film flavour with a background mix of familiar classical themes and a trio of wandering musicians, who act as a kind of Greek chorus. Sometimes, the track dispenses with sound altogether apart from dialogue. Difficult to judge all this by 'normal' standards: Bollywood films are a law unto themselves and this should prove more popular than most.

David Quinlan

India 2007. UK Distributor: UTV Motion Pictures. Colour.
131 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 05 May 2007