Traffic Hindi Movie

For a remake of a Malayalam movie this one tells the tale based on a true story, but it becomes so tedious because it tries too hard to infuse the TV drama pace of Kiefer Sutherland's 24 and ends up being tedious. May 6, 2016 By Manisha Lakhe

The Malayalam movie Traffic tells us the story of a brave police constable who risked his own life in driving like a madman through Chennai's rush hour traffic to reach a heart to a young girl in a hospital across town.

Manoj Bajpayee plays the traffic cop who drives the heart from Mumbai to Pune with a doctor and the donor's best friend. Jimmy Shergill plays the Traffic Police Jt. Commissioner (so says his desig, but he calls himself 'Commissioner', so who are we to argue!) who helps out by stopping traffic en route, but is not sure why he should be doing it.

There are weeping parents of the young man who has had to donate the heart, and extra weepy mother (who makes up for the superstar father who is unable to weep!) of the girl waiting for the heart in Pune. How they weep! And the clock ticking to show they're in distress makes you get up and get some coffee. Not to worry. You don't miss anything because the director freeze frames so many times, only three cinematic minutes have passed when you come back armed with the beverage that is going to keep you awake.

The pain is not over. There are other people sharing their back-stories as well. The policeman who drives, the doctor accompanying the heart, the friend in the car with them. Then the donor has a back story of girlfriend who is weeping too. The doctor has bought a car for his wife who has a back story and a friend who flirts with women on the phone. And they're all weeping. By the time we get to hear the doctor's sister's voice, we pray that her back story is not another tragic tale. We are certainly not waiting for Jimmy Shergill's back story as to why he was so reluctant to divert traffic to save a life.

Then there's the communal angle with Pandharpur pilgrims in a rally who will not be stopped. Plus a Muslim neighborhood who might object to a car driving through their neighborhood. Why? You wonder. But thankfully the heart reaches the little girl and all's well with all the characters on the screen. It's just that you are sick of the ride and do not want to ask, 'Are we there yet?' any more.