Corporate: Movie Review

Director Madhur Bhandarkar

Cast: Bipasha Basu, Kay Kay Menon, Raj Babbar, Rajath Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni (narrator), Lilette Dubey, Vinay Apte,Missha Lamba, Sameer Dattani

After “Satta”, “Chandni Bar” and “Page 3”, one expects sharp presentations of reality by Madhur Bhandarkar. His “Corporate” delivers, with true to life characterizations built from close observation of ground realities. This time, his focus is on high fliers in the business world. With the tides of globalization and cola wars washing across India, this is an apt commentary on what can go on behind the“bottom line…profit” slogan. Atul Kulkarni’s crisp voice introduces us to the saga of two tycoons, Dharmesh Marwah (Raj Babbar) of Marwah International Pvt. Ltd. and Vinay Sehgal (Rajath Kapoor) of the Sehgal Group of Industries. They are locked in a grim one-upmanship battle, the latest round being the acquisition of a PSU (public sector undertaking) bottling plant that the government is selling off.

Corporate rivalry spirals into a life or death matter for the magnates. Marwah is ostentatiously devout, superstitious and God fearing but uses his favorite God-man to close or manipulate business deals. Sehgal is more into gyms, American investors, doughnuts and call girls; an ultra-rich rogue in designer suits. Raj Babbar plays Marwah quite adequately. Rajath Kapoor is very polished and uses his blank, dead-fish eyes to project dishonesty and evasion.

A major player in Vinay’s corporation is Nishigandha Dasgupts (Bipasha Basu)-- smart, self-made and dazzlingly efficient. A starry-eyed new girl (Minissha Lamba) gushes adoringly about wanting to be like Nishi. Other than that, she and the other young “team-player” Sameer Dattani only make some coy remarks to each other and fizzle out like damp squibs.

Because his usually subservient wife insists, Vinay brings his brother-in-law Ritesh (Kay Kay Menon) into the fray. Burdened with self-doubts, Ritesh returns after a failed business venture in the UK. Nishi and he are lovers and pick up where they left off. She gives him the support that he once gave her to leave failure in the past and look forward to success in the future. Beautiful scenes between a vulnerable Kay Kay and a strong Bipasha; understanding and love shine from her eyes. Kay Kay is superb throughout, especially his haggard, disillusioned intensity in the second half. There are no “heroes” here and he ends up looking helpless. His magic lies in creating a drink-swilling loser who stirs empathy rather than contempt in the viewer.

Bipasha breaks out of her “bombshell” mould and emotes with honesty. She is convincing as the tough and unethical manipulator. Nishi ultimately gets cold feet and her rampant ambition finally flounders against the rocks of some long-buried morals. She can calmly toss business ethics out of the window but cannot accept possible deaths from pesticide-ridden products; a case of thus far but no further?

The plot thickens with many more characters crawling out of the woodwork. The grab-all minister Gulabrao whose hands are permanently under the table, is played convincingly and humorously by Vinay Apte. Lurid insider info and cynical comic relief flow occasionally from gossipy office boys and the minister’s gun-toting bodyguards who have ring side seats and have seen it all. Their dialogue delivery could have been more secretive instead of loud and rasping.

Big business, stock market and political talk that runs through most of the film can go over the heads of the audience. But the jargon adds authenticity to the backdrop against which the wheeling and dealing occurs. A few sleazy flashes of Bollywood and fashion-scene hookers going blandly about their business fall into place as the story unwinds. “O, Sikander” already shows some signs of climbing the hit song charts. The background score does not intrude in any of the scenes. Javed Akthar and ad-man Prahladh Kakkar play themselves.

On the whole, a Madhur Bhandarkar film with his unique and unerring touch evident almost throughout. Definitely worth seeing.