Paani Ch Madhaani review: Entertainer with a fresh, imaginative story and powerful message

The much-awaited Punjabi-language film Paani Ch Madhaani, starring Gippy Grewal and Neeru Bajwa, features an unusual story about the adventures and struggles of a music troupe in Punjab.

Set in the 1980s, the story takes us through the non-starter of a music band led by the singer Gulli (Grewal). Though the troupe tries hard to win over its audiences, it fails to connect with them and often gets pelted with rotten tomatoes.

All the members of the troupe have financial constraints and are desperate for some success. They realize they need to sing duets since that is the flavour of the moment. The troupe recruits Sohni (Bajwa) and their fortunes change overnight. Their fame reaches England and a promoter offers them shows there. Excited at the opportunity, the troupe travels abroad. However, Gulli starts feeling insecure about Sohni’s growing popularity.

Meanwhile, Gulli gets a call that he has won the lottery in India, but there is a twist. The ticket cannot be found! The second half of the film shifts gears and is about finding the missing ticket. As the group concocts schemes to get to the ticket, the music and infighting take a back seat and the pace slackens. However, the finale features an outstanding performance by the troupe that ties the various threads together.

The Paani Ch Madhaani team has paid attention to detail in both costume and production design to evoke the era of the 1980s. Together with cinematographer Jailesh Oberoi, who cleverly navigates through London to evoke a bygone era, the crew does a commendable job of providing a dated texture to the film.

With a musical troupe at the centre of the story, the music by Jatinder Shah is obviously a focus of the film and becomes one of its highlights. The catchy numbers 'Jean', 'VCR' and 'Pind Pind' are complemented by the more soulful 'Taqdeere' and rounded off with the energetic, rousing number, 'Jit Hi Jaande Ne'.

Although the performances of the entire cast are commendable, Neeru Bajwa and Karamjit Anmol stand out with Anmol being extremely funny in the graveyard scene. Much of the humour comes from the wittty dialogues and keeps the film engaging. There is also an appreciable message about amity between India and Pakistan woven in through the character played by Pakistani comedian Iftikhar Thakur. 

Overall, Paani Ch Madhaani is an entertainer with a refreshingly different script that inspires one to look beyond easy solutions and make one’s own destiny.