Life Express (U/A)Director: Anup DasCast: Rituparna Sengupta, Kiran Janjani, Divya Dutta, Yashpal Sharma and othersRating: *1/2

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Setting out to say one thing and digressing to say exactly the opposite is the blatant mistake Life Express makes.
 
Life Express successfully captures the day-to-day professional and personal challenges of a career-minded couple, with emphasis on hardworking and successful banker Tanvi (Sengupta) who wants to get to the top in her chosen profession. Husband Nikhil (Janjani) doesn’t seem to mind her mad race for position and power. The couple longs for a child, but Tanvi wants to avoid the hassles of pregnancy as that would come in the way of her career. She doesn’t have the time or the willingness to become a biological mother and so goes in for an abortion, much against her husband’s wishes. Some modern couples may be able to identify with the difficult balancing act between career and home.
 
But Tanvi is made to feel like an inhuman being for choosing career over motherhood, and so she and Nikhil decide to hire a womb. Enter Gouri (Dutta), who makes the most of the joys pregnancy brings, on Tanvi's behalf.
 
The stark differences between the first and second halves of the film seem out of place. Director Anup Das takes too long to establish the affluence of city life and contrast it with the poverty of an obscure village. The film could have done without the repetition of many obvious scenes.
 
It seems the film-maker was confused about the messages he wanted to send to the audience. You are not sure if he is saying, go ahead, pursue your career, kids be damned, or wants to give you traditional gyaan about being a mother.
 
Sengupta and Janjani take their roles too seriously and hence appear unconvincing. After a point they look like individuals over-acting to grab attention. Dutta as the villager Gouri is slightly better than the rest of the cast. Some of the serious scenes unintentionally elicit guffaws, making the whole premise of the film seem trivial.
 
Mediocre acting, pathetic make-up, and endless, unnecessary songs seem to dilute the importance of the contemporary subject that the film set out to address. Skip this one.