Madras Cafe movie is a 2013 Bollywood political thriller spy film directer is Shoojit Sircar while Producer are John Abraham,Shoojit Sircar,Ronnie Lahiri under banner of JA Entertainment,Rising Sun Films. Film has “Jaffna” name earlier.
This film leading stars cast are John Abraham, Nargis Fakhri, Rashi Khanna and Leena Paul. Rashi kanna’s debuted in in Bollywood. This film story base on real incidents during the late 1980s and early 1990s, at the time of Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war and assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The film shows how an Indian Army special officer who is appointed by the intelligence agency R&AW to head covert operations in Jaffna shortly after Indian peace-keeping force was forced to withdraw.
Madras Cafe movie was released on 23rd August, 2013 with positive critics reviews, However Box Office wise film did above average business. The film won the National Film Award for Best Audiography for Nihar Ranjan Samal (location sound recording) and Bishwadeep Chatterjee (sound design) at the 61st National Film Awards.
- Directer : Shoojit Sircar
- Producer : John Abraham,Shoojit Sircar,Ronnie Lahiri
- Writer : Somnath Dey,Shubendu Bhattacharya,Juhi Chaturvedi,Tushar Jain
- Screenplay : Somnath Dey,Shubendu Bhattacharya,Dusan Tolmac
- Starring : John Abraham,Nargis Fakhri,Rashi Khanna,Siddharth Basu,Prakash Belawadi
- Music : Shantanu Moitra
- Cinematography : Kamaljeet Negi
- Editor : Chandrashekhar Prajapati
- Production company : JA Entertainment,Rising Sun Films
- Distributor : Viacom 18 Motion Pictures,JA Entertainment
- Genres : Action, Drama, Thriller
- Release date : 23 August 2013
- Running time : 130 minutes
- Country : India
- Language : Hindi
Madras Cafe movie Star cast :
- John Abraham as a Vikram Singh
- Nargis Fakhri as a Jaya Sahni
- Raashi Khanna as a Ruby
- Prakash Belawadi as a Bala Krishnan
- Gaurav Sharma as a K.T
- Avijit Dutt as a Swarup
- Manoj Bakshi as a Home Secretary 2nd Cabinet
- Sanjay Gurbaxani as a Former Prime Minister
- Vishnu Govindhan as a Kidnapper
- Aayam Mehta as a Vasu
- Kannan Arunachalam as a Shri
- Malini Sathappan
- Dibang as a Informer, bangkok
- K.R. Parmeshwar as a Narayan
- Leena Maria Paul as a Tamil rebel
- Dinesh Nair as a Rajshekaran
- Siddartha Basu as a Robin Dutt
- Vinod Kumar as a Informer
- Sudhanva Deshpande as a Home Secretary
- Ajay Ratnam as a Anna Bhaskaran
- Jayanta Das as a DGMI (1st Cabinet)
- Steve Fahl as a Reed
- Piyush Pandey as a Cabinet Secretary of India
- Tarun Bali as a Rishi
- Rajeev Rajan as a LTF Terrorist
- Alok Jain as a Ajit
- Agnello Dias as a Sri Lankan minister
- Swaroopa Ghosh as a Foreign Secretary
Madras Cafe movie Pre-Post Production and release :
“If I would have gone with this script to anyone else, they would have rejected it because of the kind of sensitivity the subject has. I don’t want to name them, but three of them have already done it. Nobody was ready to produce the film… it’s very daring of John Abraham and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures to back up this project,” director Shoojit Sircar told the press after the release of the film.
John Abraham said that director Shoojit Sircar narrated the script of Madras Cafe to him in 2006 but could not get around to start it. “After our last film together, we decided to get back to doing where we started off from. That’s the story behind Madras Cafe,” he said.
Shoojit said that, “The film is a work of fiction, but it is based on research into real events, it has a resemblance to actual political events, dealing with civil war and the ideology of a militant group.”
The film was earlier named Jaffna after the northern Sri Lankan city. It was renamed Madras Cafe, as the plot to kill Rajiv Gandhi was invent at the café. The original location of the café is not specified in the film.
Casting :
John Abraham, the lead actor and one of the producers of the film, plays Vikram Singh, a military officer who is sent to Jaffna to head RAW’s covert operations. “I had to lose a lot of muscle because these officers look like regular people. When they are in a crowd, they are completely inconspicuous,” says John. Commenting on remarks comparing his look to Tom Hanks in Cast Away, he said: “Deciding on my look for the movie was quite challenging. It took lot of brain storming and we finalized this messy look, which apparently you think is inspired by Tom Hanks, but actually it’s not.”
American model-turned-actress Nargis Fakhri was cast to play Jaya Sahni, a British journalist in Jaffna. For the role of foreign war correspondent, Nargis was chosen because the director required “a girl who looked Indian but had an [English] accent”. Thus this was the first film where her voice was not dubbed. Initially, American-based actress Freida Pinto was chosen to portray Jaya Sahni, but due to prior commitments she withdrew from the project.
Shoojit Sircar contacted model Sheetal Mallar for the film, but as things did not work out, newcomer Rashi Khanna was signed for the role, marking her debut. The cast also included a number of non-professional actors, such as quiz master Siddharth Basu, filmmaker Prakash Belawadi and journalist Dibang.
Shooting : Location and sets :
Madras Cafe film was shot in Malaysia, Thailand, London and India. The Sri Lankan scenes of the film were shot in India, where the city of Jaffna and large parts of inner Sri Lanka were recreated. “We knew we couldn’t shoot this in Sri Lanka, so we shot most of it in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and converted it into a war zone. The second part of the film is based in India, which is the politics part,” said Shoojit Sircar.
The first schedule of the film was shot extensively in southern India. The second schedule was shot in Mumbai, outside India and in and around south India. Several civil war scenes were shot in Bangkok as light machine gun fire was not permitted in India. Real AK-47s, 9mm Berettas and M60s were used, for which special permission was obtained from the local authorities.
The trailer was released on 12 July 2013. The film was also dubbed in Tamil.
Release :
The film was released on 23rd August in India, the United States and United Arab Emirates. However, it was not released in the United Kingdom and Canada as planned owing to the protests by Tamil diaspora in regards to its depiction of the Tamil militnats, nor in Tamil Nadu where exhibitors feared its release was not worth the risk in regards to the controversy.
Madras Cafe movie Songs / Music :
The film’s music composer is Shantanu Moitra while lyricist are Ali hayat, Zebunissa Bangash and Manoj Tapadia.
- “Sun Le Re”……………..Papon
- “Ajnabi”……………………..Bangash
- “Khud Se”…………………………..Papon
- “Sun Le Re (Reprise)”…………Papon
- “Madras Cafe Theme”…………Instrumental
- “Conspiracy”……………………….Instrumental
- “Entry to Jaffna”……………………Instrumental
- “Title Theme”………………………Instrumental
“Sun Le Re” full video song :
- Singer : Papon
- Music : Shantanu Moitra
- Lyrics : Ali Haya
- Music Banner : T-Series
“Ajnabi” full video song :
- Singer : Bangash
- Music : Shantanu Moitra
- Lyrics : Bilal Sami
- Music Banner : T-Series
Review of the film :
This film reviews are positive from mostly all critics and also from audience and Become successful at the Box office.
Critics review :
- Times of India Critics Srijana Mitra Das rated 4 star from 5 star and praised the makers by stating that ” John stays low-key and competent as Vikram while supporting actors, like agents Bala, SP and Vasu, stand out. Restrained performances by the LTF suicide bombers are chilling. The cinematography is remarkable, shots of huge naval warships, helicopters floating across hills, sunshine on a deadly sea, haunting. Commendably, Sircar never overindulges in gore, keeping Madras Café a shifting site of mental violence. Madras Café deserves an extra half-star for guts, going for the gunpowder – but with a restrained hand.”
- Anupama Chopra from Hindustan Times gave 3 star out of 5 star and writes that “Madras Café works as an effective portrait of the futility of war. Shoojit and his writers, Shubhendu Bhattacharya and Somnath Dey, ably illustrate why there are no winners here. Ideologies are marred by corruption and brutality. Death is inevitable and victories, pyrrhic. A special mention here of John Abraham, who stretches himself as both actor and producer. He does a commendable job. As does Prakash Belawadi, who plays Vikram’s hard-drinking superior. And cinematographer Kamaljeet Negi, whose camera gives the film scale and heft. Shantanu Moitra’s unobtrusive music underlines the tragedy.Madras Café is flawed but ambitious and brave. I recommend you make time for it.”
- Vinayak Chakravorty from India today gave 3.5 star from 5 star and write that “Madras Cafe cocktails its political narrative with superbly scripted suspense. The film is not strictly about war. Rather, the screenplay (Somnath Dey and Shubendu Bhattacharya) creates an engaging spy thriller with its focus on the grime behind intelligence ops and the societal implications of rebellion. If Sircar cannot resist a comment or two, it is served very quietly, smartly. The film tells a story we already knew. Yet it scores because of the way Sircar maintains intrigue, teasing viewers with regular twists. Irresistible stuff if you love brain work in your movies.”
- Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV gave 4 star out of 5 star also appreciate the makers.
Online review :
Public review :
Awards of the film :
National Film Awards :
- Best Audiography (Location Sound Recordist)………Nihar Ranjan Samal…….Won
- Best Audiography (Sound Designer)………………….Bishwadeep Chatterjee……Won
Filmfare Awards :
- Best Cinematography…………Kamaljit Negi…………Won
- Best Sound Design………..Bishwadeep Chatterjee, Nihar Ranjan Samal…..Won
Zee Cine Awards :
- Best Sound Design……….Bishwadeep Chatterjee……Won
Star Screen Awards :
- Ramnath Goenka Memorial Award…Madras Cafe………..Won
- Best Director………………..Shoojit Sircar……………..Won
- Best Action……………………Manohar Verma………….Won
Producers Guild Film Awards :
- Best Sound Mixing……..Bishwadeep Chatterjee…….Won
- Best Editing………………Chandrashekar Prajapati…….Won
Mirchi Music Awards :
- Background Score of the Year……….Shantanu Moitra…….Won
Box office collection :
- Day 1 – Friday………..5.12 Cr
- Day 2 – Saturday…….7.10 Cr
- Day 3 – Sunday……….7.75 Cr
- Day 4 – Monday………3.11 Cr
- Day 5 – Tuesday………3.00 Cr
- Day 6 – Wednesday…..3.85 Cr
- Day 7 – Thursday……….2.70 Cr
- Week 1 Collection……..32.63 Cr
- Day 8 – 2nd Friday……..1.30 Cr
- Day 9 – 2nd Saturday…….1.80 Cr
- Day 10 – 2nd Sunday………2.50 Cr
- Day 11 – 2nd Monday……..0.95 Cr
- Day 12 – 2nd Tuesday…….0.78 Cr
- Day 13 – 2nd Wednesday….0.60 Cr
- Day 14 – 2nd Thursday……..0.65 Cr
- Week 2 Collection………….8.58 Cr
- Week 3 Collection………..1.09 Cr
- Week 4 Collection………..0.15 Cr
- Week 5 Collection………..0.02 Cr
- Total Net Collection……………42.47 Cr
- India Gross Collection………57.33 Cr
- Overseas Collection…………9.38 Cr
- Worldwide Collection Gross………..66.71 Cr
- Madras Cafe movie Budget :…34.00 Cr
- Madras Cafe movie Verdict :- AVERAGE
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