‘Metro…In Dino’: Old Bollywood in New Shoes

Kajol Ghosh (a stunning Konkona Sen Sharma) and Monty Sisodia (the always hilarious Pankaj Tripathi) are your typical upper-middle-class Indian family. They have a daughter, Pihu, whom they must shuttle back and forth between school and soccer practice. Kajol has given up her career to be a homemaker, while Monty has one of those nondescript office jobs where you couldn’t really say what he does, but pays him enough so he can afford a white BMW. At the end of a long day, like many other couples, they have to schedule when they have sex, only to realize that it’s best to put it off; they’re too tired.

Filmmaker Anurag Basu — behind everything from Murder (2004) to Barfi! (2012) — is back with the second chapter to Life in a…Metro (2007), called Metro…In Dino (2025), or “cities these days.” The concept is simple for both films: follow everyday urban people in all their complexity — their morality, heartbreak, love, pain. But in a Hindi film industry reeling from Hollywoodization and a lack of original ideas, Metro…In Dino signifies much more than a straightforward reboot. It marks the return of a full-blown Bollywood soundtrack (with over six songs!) and veteran casting, from a wondrous Neena Gupta to a riveting Konkona Sen Sharma. Even if the film doesn’t hit all the marks, it scratches a long-forgotten itch: good music, good moments, some laughs, some cries. And maybe that’s enough.