Akshat Sheth Story: Vikram Singh is deployed on a covert oppression to Jaffna. After India and Sri Lanka signed the peace accord in the mid 1980s, India took it as their mission to help its neighbors relieve themselves from the ethnic strife between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. Hatching a plot to bring down Anna, a popular Tamil leader in the zone, Vikram begins with trying to team up with Anna's opponents in the beginning.Falling prey to a leak, he loses his first shot with Anna and gets kidnapped by his forces! However, now hell bent on getting Anna to bow down, he teams with Anna's own men and manages to ambush his army. However, Anna manages to survive and returns even more powerful by eradicating Indian forces off Jaffna and Lanka.Plotting ways to kill the former Indian Prime Minister fearing that he will return to power, the film is a tussle between the war makers to safeguard their interests! And for Vikram, it is the story about how India lost its Prime Minister in an assassination which the nation has still not forgotten!Performances: John Abraham as Vikram Singh topples all his previous performances. He isn't a very flattering actor but his clever choice of role and wicked acting surely shows a remarkable improvement. He isn't the John who couldn't emote. He is the John who isn't afraid to take up challenging roles and carry them out gracefully.Nargis Fakhri with her British accent is pitch perfect. She may not be a show stealer but does her bit with élan retaining the correct persona for it.Siddhartha Basu is quite a natural as he smoothly slips in the role of R.D. His intelligence shows in his eyes, and he manages to command respect in his character! Never stepping a wrong stone, the man should have taken up acting long back!The supporting actors are all impressive but in the end, this film is more about its intent and plot than about its actors!Direction,editiong,screenplay & music:Shoojit Sircar is back after a long hiatus since Vicky Donor. He strings into the same plot, the emotional wreckage and physical devastation of war to emphatically put forth the futility of it all. In the climax, Shoojit concludes with, "One man's revolutionary is another one's villain!" followed by a few stellar lines of Tagore! Truly, in the clashes of mindsets the only people who suffer are commoners who seek only peace and happiness from their lives.As Lankan leader Anna strives to garner power and Indian Government attempts to achieve their political motive of maintaining monopoly in the subcontinent by maintaining friendly relations with Lanka to obtain access into the South East Asia, Sircar wonderfully relates the story of anarchy, bloodshed and meaningless war which continued for 27 long years killing thousands. In the end, he does squeeze out a potent message about the nugatory nightmare of the wrath of war! Shoojit intelligently executes a crisply written story which is executed breathtakingly. The editing of the film is quite well done, as the docu-drama style doesn't stir up any boredom. Shantanu Moitra's music is pristine and haunting as the climax wraps up with Papon crooning Maula Re.The last word: Madras Café is a hypnotically created masterpiece which thrives in the freshness of its conception. Using history with drama to build a persuasive tapestry of enthralling action, energetic plot and skillful narration of the grim phase of Lankan War, Shoojit Sircar astonishes with this fascinating docu style dramatic movie. I am going flatly with a 9/10 this triumphed work of passionate and compelling cinema.

Vijayanand Phad I watch this movie quite late, actually too late.The movie is very well directed, handles a critical issue with trying to be unbiased at best.Acting by John is very much impressive. I still think, it's his one of the best movies. I never liked him before as actor, this movie changes my mind. Sorry for Nargis Fakhri, she just doesn't fit as an actor. Other actors do their jobs just perfectly. Locations are just best, one of the movie that can be compared with any Hollywood movies. Direction, Cinematography, Sounds everything is far better than other Bollywood movies.Key thing is it tries to be unbiased on the issue. No side wins, it's a defeat for all, is the message of the movie.Why to watch: 1. Some to add on the knowledge of Tamil issue in Sri Lanka & Assassination of Prime Minister (may not be factually correct)2. Works almost in all the areas as a movie.3. Thanks for no songs (not just any other Bollywood movie)Why not: 1. Nothing as such !

Murtaza Ali Madras Cafe is a 2013 political thriller film directed by Indian filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, starring John Abraham as an undercover Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent and Nargis Fakhri as an international war correspondent. Madras Cafe presents a whole new perspective on the tragic Rajiv Gandhi assassination, believed to have been carried under the orders of the now deceased Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, underpinning a whole new conspiracy angle to it.So, what exactly is a conspiracy theory? Generally, whenever someone famous is assassinated (or, for that matter, in the occurrence of any other controversial event of national or international importance) the grapevine floods with loads of conspiracy theories. While every such theory is backed up by some sort of evidence, it is rarely concrete. Besides, if we were to go by the proponents of conspiracy theories, there are always powerful lobbies exercising their influence to keep such "truths" buried forever.While the genre is infantile when it comes to Hindi cinema, it's quite a successful formula in Hollywood. The fact that Madras Cafe is the first of its kind in India makes its success considerably important from cinematic point of view. Choosing to make a film on the sensitive and divisive subject of the LTTE takes courage, let aside realising a film that revolves around the Rajiv Gandhi assassination and throws in a brand new conspiracy theory angle to it. And the fact that films based on real-life sensitive issues and historical events in a country like India are believed to stir up political tension and cause chaos makes their effort even more commendable.Overall, Madras Cafe proves to be a great viewing experience for the serious audience. The film touches upon themes that are often considered quite challenging and difficult to tackle in Indian cinema parlance. The movie is at par with any Hollywood product on the technical front. The acting ranges from average to good. While Nargis Fakhri appears to be quite comfortable in her role, John Abraham undoubtedly delivers his best performance ever. Though he may not be as toned down as he himself claims to be, he seems to fit into the shoes of the character quite well and even manages to bring in a much needed element of realism and machismo to his part. While the movie doesn't appear to be taking any sides, its detractors may criticise it for implicitly creating a wave of sympathy for one political group in particular, especially with India's general elections fast approaching. Madras Cafe is a thinking man's espionage-cum-political thriller and is most likely to disappoint those on the lookout for voyeurism and masala entertainment. But, it's a movie that every serious film-goer must watch. 8/10A more in-depth review can be read at:http://www.apotpourriofvestiges.com/

Manjunath Biradar This is one of the few documentaries movies made India. All the credit goes to the director and producer (john himself) for bringing out wonderful movie, we are not sure about the facts as many have criticized saying that all the views were not expressed..But lets leave those apart and try to see how the things have happened during those crunch times. John has to be credited more for choosing such a subject to produce and act in it. His career took another turn after this movie. Truly now everyone takes him seriously rather than earlier times. soorjit right from his first movie..than came Vicky donor(unconventional subject for Indian market but it worked wonders) This is the first documentary which reminded me of Green zone, hurt locker experience while watching..Nargis (super accent to start with)if she had debuted with this movie in Bollywood it would have been the best decision nevertheless awesome movie, superb performance and shot extremely well.