Lonely in a Crowd

Clearly Bengali women have been put on earth to educate men to be progressive, or so Hindi cinema would like us to believe. This is a trend capped by the campy Rocky Aur Rani kii Prem Kahani. In Aap Jaisa Koi it comes to fruition in Madhu Bose from a Kolkata family where the women smoke, drink, play cards and gosh, even have a view on politics. She falls in love with Shrirenu Tripathi of Jamshedpur, where the women cook, clean and compromise. But since this is a Hindi film, it is up to Ms Bose, teacher of French and driver of an ancient Fiat, to teach Mr Tripathi, teacher of Sanskrit and still a virgin at 42, that love only wants love. So far, so good. It follows the romcom route of cute girl meets nerdy boy or vice versa, but soon things unravel, and the film becomes as much about reinventing masculinity as combat­ing urban loneliness. The loneliness that comes from being in an oppressive marriage, that comes from not allowing oneself to fail and fall in love, that comes from the routine of single­dom—placing flowers in books, going home in time to water the plants, and enjoying the pain and pleasure of waiting for a beloved. R Madhavan has played shy men in awe of smart women before and Fatima Sana Shaikh has become the pinup for a single, beautiful woman unlucky in love. She is not Bengali but does a fine job of educating Madhavan's character. There is an old world charm to the casting, reinforced by a dream sequence where she is Madhubala and he is Ashok Kumar. Joy.