Aasmaan Bharadwaj makes his directorial debut with this gritty and dark tale of crime set in Mumbai. Film boasts of stellar cast with whom his father worked over period of last two decades.
Plot And Performances
The dark thriller tale is about a few small gangs in Mumbai that take up crime and betrayal out of greed for massive sums of money. There are interesting characters. There is naxal gang, corrupt system and police officers, young couple in love and you know you have your ideal recipe for so called ‘film set in underbelly of crime’ saga.
Tabu plays Poonam aka Pami, a police officer who has climbed the stairs of misogyny to now rule the same men who subjected her to it. The place she is in, she calls encountering people ‘masti’ and doesn’t think twice before she kills someone. She is easily the best character and performance of the film.
Arjun Kapoor plays a corrupt police officer and on contrary, he is religious and observes fast on Tuesdays. He breaks that fast and worships the god before he takes a gun and butchers an entire party for money. Arjun once again shows his potential as performer and he needs more such meaty roles written for him.
Radhika Madan is average, Shardul is decent, Konkana has nothing much to do and Kumud Mishra is routine.
Analysis
Film has heart and style but what it lacks big time is bark. It doesn’t have punch and no where it really surprises you especially in era of OTT where such content is coming out everyday. Characters work but in isolation and at times, everyone seems too cunning and predictable.
DOP Farhad Ahmed Dehlvi disappoints with overuse of handheld and red lights. As writer Aasmaan is strictly average as proceedings get tiring after a point and it lacks menace of ‘Omkara’ or zing of ‘Kaminey’. Film tries to ape these films that’s why it’s necessary to mention.
But biggest disappointment is film’s music considering stellar track record of Vishal Bharadwaj. Every song seems like a new version of older Vishal’s songs and music is plain boring. Even updated version of ‘Dhan Te Nan’ tells us what all wrong is today’s Bollywood music scene.
As director, Aasmaan does well – better than writer. He handles sequences well and manages to create a world of his own. Only problem is lack of an original style.
Verdict
Film will find very few takers at box office and might work among niche audience when it comes out on OTT. A disappointing film considering such a stellar cast and couple of amazing performances.
Box-office Rating:
1/5
Critic Rating:
2.5/5
