By Shevaal Singh
Rating 3.5/5 (7/10)
Star cast: Sridevi, Mehdi Nebbou, Priya Anand, Sulbha Deshpande, Sujata Kumar, Shivansh Kotia, Navika Kotia, Adil Hussain, Cory Hibbs, Amitabh Bachchan (special appearance).
‘English Vinglish’ is the best comeback movies of them all. The actress who left acting for 15 years returns to entertain her fans in a new avatar in this light-hearted blockbuster. The script and cinematography of English Vinglish is effortless with a clean and distinct style of direction. Sri Devi is amazing is this lovable, soulful and touching performance which leaves audiences in amazement.
Sridevi in the lead character as Shashi is nothing less the ‘champion’ of the film,she is a loving mother, A wife who craves the love of her husband as well as a truly sincere student. She shines in this magnificent role. In my eyes no other actress of today could have pulled of this role so effortlessly and with so much attention in being able to act so naturally.
Other performances that stand out are that of Mehdi Nebbou as Laurent was really worth watching as he tries to court Shashi another great performance by Priya Anand as Shashi’s supportive niece. Cory Hibbs is remarkable as Shashi’s chirpy English teacher David Fischer. Amitabh Bachchan’s special appearance is cute but over-the-top.
The story of Shashi who is played by Sridevi is known as ‘laddoo’ (sweetmeat) by her husband .Shashi is a loving mother to her son and daughter. She also runs a small catering business from her home but when it comes to English skills, let’s just say that the ‘laddoo crumble’
Shashi’s daughter is ashamed to take her for PTA meetings and giggles at her mom’s language behind her back with her father. Shashi now has to stay in the US for 5 weeks in order to help her sister organise her niece’s wedding. While in the US she has a frightening experience at a café where she tried to order something. This incident has led to sign up for English tutorials without telling anyone.
She begins to lead a double-life as she has a judgmental family on one side and her classmates who like and respect her as well as one of them, Laurent who has a crush on her. Her only form of support through all this is her niece that helps her through this.
Forget comebacks and special appearances, watch this movie for a brilliant performance of a woman who steps out of her family’s shadow and learns to love herself. Watch this movie and find out how will Shashi continue her classes once her husband and children join her in the US? And where does this crush lead to? And most importantly will Shashi conquer this English Vinglish language?