- Date of Release: 04 July 2025
- Genre: Drama, Romance
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Metro...in Dino
Introduction
There is something about living in a metro city that blurs your existence. You are walking with lacs of people everyday but the feeling of loneliness cannot be brushed aside too. It is almost like a love-hate relationship that you share while experiencing a ‘Life In A Metro’, wherein the city gives you opportunities to blossom but also demands a lion’s share of it. The same holds true with relationships budding in the city as well, an anecdote that is shared in the beautifully soothing musical Hindi film Metro…In Dino which is a spiritual sequel to Life In A Metro (2007). Unlike the first film that majorly was staged in the grim yet heartfelt city of Mumbai, the various intertwining lives of the characters here are similar to the intertwining metro cities that are a part of the narrative. Immediately as you are transported into the world, you experience a distinct yet confused flavour of the metro cities, each doubling up as distinct characters on their own – filled with aspiration, longing and second chances. It is a way of saying that even the metro cities have dual lives that are intertwining and sharing heartbeats with each other, much like the characters of the film. And that itself adds enough texture for the drama to simmer in the heat of love that plays out like a ballad.
Story & Screenplay
Like Life In A Metro, the soul of Metro In Dino remains its characterization that instantly take you on a heartfelt journey of love, loss and second chances. One crucial detail that has been addressed remains its age demographic through its characters that invariably covers the entire spectrum (again, much like Life In A Metro). When you are introduced to the characters of Akash (Ali Fazal) and Shruti (Fatima Sana Shaikh), there is a sense of crumbled aspirations that lace their relationship. From getting married early after a rebellious affair to the pressure of having children, the couple have slowly begun to lose their individual identities. Akash aspired to be a musician but is eventually caught in the rat race of life while having to crunch numbers in his 11 to 8 desk-job. His basic inhibition remains having to die as an average Joe, much like his father whom he had once witnessed following a similar fate for his family. The implications of life and a budding relationship soon catches up with Shruti too – she has bartered her career against an option of being in a long distance relationship, resented to her fate of having a baby at a relatively young age, while continuing to be a pillar of support for Akash. But in the process, her identity is fast diminishing in a land that continues to remain alien to her.
The equation and tone of the drama shifts even as you are introduced to Parth (Aditya Roy Kapur) and Chumki (Sara Ali Khan). The mood is frivolous just like the bunch of relationships that Parth has had. Parth remains an utterly confused man-child who isn’t sure of his destination. He could be termed as a traveller who is adventurous with the roads but not so much with his goals and destinations. He is almost a mix of Avinash and Bunny from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), wanting to enjoy life without any commitments. On the other hand, Chumki is caught up in the loop of life herself. She is on the verge of getting married, has a swanky job to boast of and often involved in drinking escapades with her buddies. But, there is a hollow sentiment tagged to her, even as she brushes aside a potential POSH case with respect to her boss at work, or even an ever-doubting fiance who has subtle traits of chauvinism. Parth and Chumki remain like fire and ice, on the two distant extremes of the love spectrum, even more distant if you consider them as Gen-Z situationship ambassadors. Hence, the frivolous start to their relationship has a comedic undertone of two drastically distinct yet carefree personalities who are yet to be smitten by the bug of love.
There is a frivolous zeal of a different kind when you are introduced to Kajol (Konkona Sen Sharma) and Monty (Pankaj Tripathi). On the face of things, they remain a seemingly happy couple who are now well settled in their lives and have a lovely teenage daughter (dealing with an issue of her own identity as a vital subplot). Life is seemingly perfect, but is it really perfect? A quick flashback showcases the amount of love that Monty had for Kajol. He wasn’t exactly the SRK in Kajol’s life, but his love remained immeasurable. But in life, love often does come with an expiry date, a lesson that Monty learns wherein he tries to communicate the shattering of a property that once housed their first date, to Kajol who is busy taking care of her children. Kajol on the other hand, still wants to love Monty but cannot ignore his rovering eye on other ‘women’. It remains a classic case of two personalities who are now at different ends of the world (a reference in a scene wherein Kajol claims to be in ‘South’ Goa, while Monty claims to be in the ‘North’). There is a deeper angle to things, even as Kajol has witnessed a similar angle involving her own parents that makes her skeptical in life. But to most people around the couple, they remain the usual bickering but loving kind. Some wise person had said, Marriage teaches you to become a great actor!
The mood becomes a little more sombre even as you are transported to a different age demographic. The focus remains on Shibani (Neena Gupta), a 60-something woman who has spent most of her life in taking care of her family involving her husband Sanjeev (Saswata Chatterjee) and her two daughters. Her ambitions have long been trampled in the wake of her new life even as you see her having resigned to her fate. But life is also about second chances, just like the second innings of a test match that offers you another chance to make a comeback. And that comeback is in the form of meeting her college-mate and her ex-flame Parimal (Anupam Kher), a character who is living a life of loneliness with his daughter-in-law Jhunak (Darshana Banik) who in turn resents the temptation of settling with Aryan (Pranay Pachauri). There is a tinge of sweetness even as Shibani and Parimal meet for the first time, a bittersweet moment too that accounts for a quick recap of their lives. But will love have a second chance too?
The hyperlink format allows each character to house a conflict of its own. Its intertwining nature resembles a convoluted mesh that refused to unwind while continuing to entangle the relationships further. But a trait in each character will find a sense of relatability in you based on your age demographic. Be it Chumki who refuses to acknowledge her newfound love for Parth due to her own baggage of commitment, or Akash finally making a move to settle in the big bad city of Mumbai while surrendering to the long distance relationship with Shruti, or even Shruti who continues to grapple with the conflict of wanting a child versus her current situation in life, or even Kajol who aspires to go on an affair-spree whilst being chased for redemption by Monty, or even Shibani who finally holds the key to living life to the fullest. There are emotions in store even as Parimal claims that not all relationships can break easily, some need to be explicitly broken…..a sentiment that will find a place in close quarters in our hearts.
The film isn’t without its flaws either – certain plot-points are almost introduced like a knee-jerk reaction, whose importance you would get to know only after a few reels. For instance, a ‘play’ involving Shibani and Parimal didn’t land from the first shot even as the emotions remained slightly fragile and manipulative. Also, the idea of fast-forwarding the drama from point A to point B at a few junctures in the screenplay, just felt like an abrupt halt in play that is largely soothing. I was also a little on the fence with its ending that felt slightly convenient, but the outro of the film really gave me a clearer picture on how the cycle of life continues from one phase to another. Overall, the screenplay has a soothing and magical feel of a love story that is caught in the time loop of the metro cities, a sentiment that holds true for each of the relationships between the characters of the film.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are laced with the philosophies of life that absolutely hits home with all the emotions in store. Even when a character exclaims that love doesn’t last a lifetime and it fades with time; hence it is important to keep falling in love with the same person over and over again for a marriage to last a lifetime, I couldn’t think of a better way to define the relationship of companionship. In another, when a character says when two strangers meet on an unknown road, the least that could transpire is a ‘story’, the emotion hit home. Elsewhere, when a character says the marriage ensures that you become a good actor, the emotion was rife (based on folks that I have witnessed around me). Life wisdom is beautifully highlighted through its lines that often creates a membrane of osmosis for love to trespass.
The music by Pritam remains one of the major highlights of the film. I found it extremely unfair for folks to compare its music to Life In A Metro (2007), a fact that was further brushed aside by me when I witnessed the songs in the context of the story. Make no mistake, this is a musical just like Jagga Jasoos (2017) where the story unfolds through the songs, and each mood is tactfully setup through its songs. The music starts off on a frivolous note to draw you into the draw, only to reach a crescendo with higher notes throughout the narrative even as deeper emotions begin to take centerstage. In fact the BGM is used as a transition mechanism even as the drama traverses over different threads in the hyperlink format, each with similar to varied moods, that are ably linked together by some superb editing. The editing keeps the drama supple while not once meandering.
The cinematography works on a certain aesthetic of representing the key locations of different metro cities in the form of frames involving the band jamming to some emotional music. There are tight closeups that give you a peek into the psyche of the characters while doubling the proceedings with incredible wide-angle shots that almost represent French cinema of activities happening at some corner of the screen. But even in that context, the emotions aren’t compromised while nicely creating an ambience of love, loss and second chances in equal measures. The colour grading compliments the shift in tonalities too – from something light and frothy representing bright colours to something with grey shades when deeper emotions takeover.
Director Anurag Basu at this point has created a successful niche for himself, with his ability to play with the aesthetics and generate hyperlink-formatted musicals that are brimming with emotions. And while music did play its part, his biggest asset remained the complex characterization that often did take centerstage in representing intertwined relationships, each one being home to a conflict. On paper this may have seemed to be a complex jigsaw puzzle, but the fluidity with which the drama is presented, it accounts for a heartfelt watch and a large credit goes to the director. Overall, the direction remains excellent through and through.
Performances
The performances remain remarkable by the members of the ensemble cast. Kush Jotwani, Pranay Pachauri, Rohan Gurbaxani and Darshana Banik are fabulous actors, and each one has their moment to shine. In fact, each of their individual tracks could have comprised of a frivolous or heartfelt stories of their own in an alternate hyperlink universe, so much so that each of these characters feel like smaller offshoots to the larger tracks in the film. And all of them manage to impress. Dilnaz Irani has a limited screentime but she manages to impress as well. Saswata Chatterjee as Sanjeev remains a character that is filled with regret with regards to his past, and someone whose actions offer strong implications on his wife. He remained a complex character that was played to perfection here.
Neena Gupta as Shibani and Anupam Kher as Parimal deliver subtly heartfelt performances. There is a bittersweet tone to their dynamics wherein both characters have resigned to their individual fate of loss but they still aspire for a second chance in life. Also, aloofness and loneliness is integral to the dynamic of Parimal who is driven by loss, whereas for Shibani, it is about living on the front foot in what is seemingly the last leg of her life. And both these actors beautifully highlight these complex emotions ably.
Ali Fazal as Akash and Fatima Sana Shaikh as Shruti deliver subtly heartfelt and competent performances. Both these characters are caught in the complex loop of life, and both are slaves to their own aspirations and accompanying vulnerabilities. And although a part of me did feel that their individual tracks was mildly kept on the backburner in the second hour, the kind of raw emotions laced with insecurity that they both offer is truly commendable.
Konkona Sen Sharma as Kajol and Pankaj Tripathi as Monty are such wonderful performers, and here, they truly hit the sweet spot. Kajol seemed like an extension of Konkona’s character from Life In A Metro, wherein the events of this film account for her life after marriage. There is a sense of playfulness on the surface with much deeper emotions of regret and insecurity that often find their voices through various situations in the drama despite her arc going from serious to mildly frivolous. On the other hand, the character arc of Monty (a role tailormade for the late Irrfan) is exactly the opposite – it begins on a frivolous note (thereby contributing to the humour quotient of the film) but ends with realisation. Both these actors encompass playful yet deeper emotions of love that automatically makes them complex, and both are brilliant to witness.
Aditya Roy Kapur as Parth is an extension of Avinash from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), a typical carefree man-child who is living his life to the fullest without taking things seriously. And Aditya captures the frivolous tone of his character rather well while also showcasing his skewed sense of thinking as far as relationships are concerned. Sara Ali Khan as Chumki is still not perfect but still far more controlled than her previous outings. The smaller issues with her performance lies in conveying a few abstract emotions that at times just translate into blank stares. But, she is much more controlled with the broader emotions that are suppressed within her. The ‘Papita’ scene had me swell up with emotions in the manner in which it was shot, which also meant that she performed rather well in that scene. Broadly, there still remains a little scope for improvement even as Sara has got a better in conveying emotions here.
Conclusion
Metro In Dino is a soothing ballad of love, loss and second chances packaged as a philosophy of life that accounts for a beautiful watch. Just to set your expectations, this remains a musical (where majority of the story unfolds through music), so it may boil down to your individual acquired tastes. But the fans of the genre are in for a treat even as my long lost love for the Hindi Film Industry is slowly making its way back to my heart. Available in a theatre near you and Highly Recommended!
