Obviously Neeraj Pandey believes in
people empowerment. In a democracy you cannot ask for more. He however wrongs
the cause with the pattern of empowerment even if plainly suggestive of the
space he is willing to thematically give his aam aadmi. A Wednesday overcame
such shortcomings largely assisted by novelty and a tight script. He returns to
story telling yet again in an atmosphere requiring change. This time his target
are the rich and corrupt. The entertainment factor gets the better of the
issue. A filmmaker decides on an issue-based script at his own risk. Where he
leaves the pulpit and where he joins the stream of entertainment is crucial to
deciding the credibility of his work. In all fairness, the filmmaker seeks to
balance them without being very bowed down by his message. That is both the
strength and weakness of the film.
A foursome gang comprising Sharmaji (Anupam Kher), Ajay Singh (Akshay Kumar),
Iqbal (Kishore Kadam) and Joginder (Rajesh Sharma) masquerades as a team of CBI
officers. Their modus operandi is to take even official support by chance or
surprise. Their target includes the corrupt politicians, tax evading businessmen,
etc. The film starts off with a “raid” on the house of a Union Minister on
Republic Day. They take the assistance of the local police Ranveer Singh (Jimmy
Sheirgill) and a lady police officer Shantiji (Divya Dutta). The Minister is
unwilling to lodge a formal complaint or for that matter even have the matter
reported for obvious reasons. From the house of the Minister in Delhi, they
move to a business house in Kolkata. This time they realise that the CBI is
already in the midst of a raid and quickly claim to be from the Income Tax.
They even use the assistance of the local police to carry the loot. On trail
now is a team of the real CBI headed by Inspector Waseem Khan (Manoj Bajpai).
The script now shifts to a planned heist of a jewellery shop in Mumbai – shades
of the Opera House branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri. This time the team
also recruits a 26-member team to carry out “the raid”. Hot on heels is the CBI
team who has already planted its moles with the false CBI team.
What keeps the film engaging apart from a tight script is a narration that
eschews irrelevance and entertains without being either too intellectually
heavy or insulting in the name of entertainment. It is this balance that
recommends the movie. Manoj Bajpai comes up with a studied and classic
performance. As the inspector on the trail, his intro with a chase scene at
Connaught in the 80s. Full credit to the support crew – Editing (Shree Narayan
Singh), Art, Stunts (Abbas Ali Moghul) and Camera (Bobby Singh) – all
contributing to the amazing affect. Then there is Akshay Kumar – looks a trifle
too old to be romancing Kajal Aggarwal who is the needless romantic angle in
the film. He adds a fine balance to the stern Manoj Bajpai. They constitute a
new twosome and make an interesting combination. In fact they hardly come face
to face. Credit to the Director for building up the conflict without an
interface. Then there is Anupam Kher. The man returns to the high haloed
credibility of his repute. I believe he went unnoticed (or at least did not get
his share) in A Wednesday. This time he is amazing. The scene where he
interacts with Inspector Waseem Khan is a revelation of how an actor can go
beyond just gate and costume and let a performance talk louder. As the hesitant
yet willing contributor, middle class but on a Z Axis, he interprets and
rightly the script and becomes its mainstay.
The film has its flaws but it has its highs. This in itself is a wakeup combo
in a Hindi Film. Go for it with low expectation levels and enjoy a new venture
from Neeraj Pandey who falls well short of A Wednesday but well ahead of many
of the contemporary films.
L. Ravichander.