Traffic Signal: An eye-opener

Madhur Bhandarkar returns with Traffic Signal, his final installment of the trilogy (consisting of Page 3 and Corporate) that dealt with the realistic dissection of a certain strata of the society. With Traffic Signal, Bhandarkar exposes us to begging as an industry on the streets of Mumbai. The film shocks, enlightens and entertains – but that was expected from a Bhandarkar film. What is not expected is the absence of a storyline. The concept is fabulous, but falls short of being a marvellous cinematic experience as the film does not go beyond giving us a slice of life about multiple disjointed characters.

Silsila (Kunal Khemu) is in charge of extorting a daily commission from a gang of beggars at a junction in Mumbai. In return, he provides safety to the beggars from rival gangs. Silsila is supported by his lieutenant Langda (Upendra Limaye) and reports to the local gang leader Jaffer (D. Santosh), who in turn works under the influence of mafia don Bhaijaan (Sudhir Mishra).

Silsila falls in love with Rani (Neetu Chandra), a Gujarati woman who sells clothes on the streets. Just around the corner stays Noorie (Konkana Sen), a woman of easy means. Noorie shares a special rapport with drug addict Dominic (Ranvir Shorey), who makes a living by conning people with a false sob story. Besides these characters, there are socialites, abused children and, of course, beggars, loads of them. But among them an orphaned rag picker named Chinnaswamy, who frantically calls the tsunami relief camp in Chennai to find out if his family is alive, touches you.

The film moves on the basis of its interesting characters in the first half, while in the second half the pace starts to pick up. However, the film has an abrupt ending that does not do justice to the protagonist or concept of the film.

Khemu is in sync with his character and has done a remarkable job. Chandra does not have a difficult role other than focussing on looking poor. Sen is, as usual, very good, even though her role is a small one. Limaye deserved a better deal for the amount of talent he has. Mishra had better stick to direction as he cannot act.

A talented actor with such a character and some good dialogues could have had a major impact on the film and its audiences. The show stealer is Shorey with a brilliant portrayal of a disturbed character. Shorey is definitely going places if he continues to act the way he does. The costume designer and make-up team deserve kudos for making all the artistes look their parts.

Bhandarkar scores once again with his subject and characters, but has missed out on a good screenplay. Nevertheless, Traffic Signal is definitely worth a watch if you want to have a peep into India's Rs1.8 billion (around Dh149.8 million) begging industry.

Critic's warning: Despite a G rating, the film contains expletives and sexual content.