The Hindu Online Edition
Corporate redefined: Money, power and politics
RANA SIDDIQUI
Aah! Yet another "intelligent" film from Madhur Bhandarkar. Despite featuring Bipasha Basu, it does not expect you to leave your brains at home and come to the hall for `visual pleasure'. It features Raj Babbar too, and despite his being nearly a forgotten face in Hindi cinema, his role here gives you a chance to see him in a new avatar. Then there is Rajat Kapoor, who is not known for drawing crowds,but you hardly have a reason to reject him here.
This is what "Corporate" does to you. There are no heroes or heroines. Just characters. They belong to two companies in the food sector, the Sehgal group and the Marwah group. If Marwah has a religious head (Vinay Apte) to `solve problems', Sehgal relies on Nishigandha (played by Bipasha), a fiercely loyal, sharp and meticulous executive.
As the corporate giants vie for the upper hand, Nishigandha pits her talents towards the success of her company. Wiles, money, the pleasures of the flesh, nothing is out of the pale of this trade war.
And there is her beloved, played by Kay Kay Menon, a failed businessman in America and the brother-in-law of Sehgal, standing by her side. But he must prove himself an able hand as the senior vice- president of the company. The ambitious Nishigandha hands over all her valuable research reports to him to give a presentation to the company, and thus prove his ability. Yet, with all her seeming success, she isn't exactly a winner. There are moments of surprise that spring up in between. They challenge your intelligence. And if you are a bit observant, you know Bhandarkar's trick. He won't let his leading lady fall flat because of her inability to deliver `technical dialogues'. He reserves this for other characters, played by Harsh Chaya, Sandeep Mehta and Achint Kaur.
He also deftly weaves into the story issues like pesticides in soft drinks; the hold of a clutch of rich housewives on the world of art; exploitation of NGOs, intelligence services and the like. Be it Bollywood item number girls becoming call girls for bureaucrats and industrialists, or the murky side of the media, he has sewn them all into the film. Actually, "Corporate" can be hailed as Raj Babbar's powerful comeback film. It establishes him as a brilliant actor. Rajat Kapoor's Sehgal proves to be a great foil to Babbar's Marwah. Lillete Dubey is outstanding as a TV journalist. Menon is also excellent. The only actor that disappoints is Bipasha. She is wooden, carrying the same expression throughout the film, despite a powerful role that could have worked wonders for her image. The film may lead you to yawn initially for its frequent use of technical language from the stock market, the corporate sector and so on. But it holds your interest just before the intermission and continues to do so till the end!
Watch it, for such intelligent scripts are not often penned. Watch it for good editing and songs that may not sound great otherwise, but are filmed admirably. Watch it, for its exposure of the underbelly of the corporate world.