India's Most Wanted: Not So Thrilling!
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| Image Courtesy: indiatvnews.com |
Reviewer’s
Thumb Mark
"The
object of terrorism is terrorism. The object of oppression is oppression. The
object of torture is torture. The object of murder is murder. The object of
power is power. Now, do you begin to understand me? "
-- George Orwell
Raj Kumar Gupta's film 'India's Most Wanted'
is about one of the dreaded terrorists Yasin Bhatkal and his arrest from
Nepal's Pokhara in 2013. Based on the true story on how Yasin, the NIA Most
Wanted, was traced and arrested by a bunch of daring and committed intelligence
officers, the film obviously generated much amount of curiosity among the public
before its release.
The plot on paper is definitely interesting
and sums up for a good crime thriller movie but unfortunately Raj Kumar Gupta
who gave us films like Aamir, No One Killed Jessica and the last year's hit
film Raid fails us by presenting a placid and sluggish not so thrilling film. The film is not so impressive in many fronts like -
the storytelling is slow, lacks momentum and suspense of a crime
thriller; the casting of actors are not so convincing as investigative agents
and officials; the villain is mentioned as a Ghost and the scenes where he is
nabbed by the officials is laughable and funny, the wig of the villain
looks like he has just walked out of a school's skit and the list is more...
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| Image Courtesy: indiatoday.in |
Arjun Kapoor as the police officer in charge, to nab the most wanted has tried his best to underplay his role and not to be
loud but in his deliberate effort to be so, he turns out to be unimpressive and
ineffective. Most of the time he is found pleading to his seniors contrary to
his portrayal that he is the one who carries out his covert operations without
the consent of his seniors, if required to safeguard the country's interest.
His body language, dialogue delivery and his leadership lacks the punch of an
Ant-Terror Squad Leader who is on a most important hunt to nab the 'Osama' of
India.
The team that accompanies Prabhat Kumar
(Arjun Kapoor) are found most of the time in panic, confused, self-doubting and
often looking for answers from their boss. It is like Prabhat picked up people
from the streets to experiment with to execute the most crucial and challenging
operation to nab the dreaded criminal. For instance, even if that is the case there
is nothing to substantiate and justify it. Prashanth Alexander as Pillai has
nothing to do like his other teammates except mouth Malayalam dialogues. Sudev
Nair who had won the Kerala State Award for Best Actor for his debut film 'My
Life Partner' should have verified, checked and explored the role before he signed the dotted lines to play the
dreaded criminal because he is most of the time masked and have little to say
and do. I wish him better luck next time.
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| Image Courtesy: in.reuters.com |
Rajesh Sharma as the boss of Prabhat is the
one who tries his best so that he ups the ante on suspense and thrill. But even
he keeps stopping Prabhat from taking up this dangerous job by being too
protective and calling him back now and then. Rajesh Sharma's efforts to
influence the higher levels to garner support to make the operation successful
is portrayed with no amount of twists and turns that result in no thrilling
experience.
The climax scene is childish and very raw.
The police force and the army waiting at the Indo-Nepal border and the transfer
of the dreaded terrorists to the Indian hands finally is shot so dismally that the NIA officers are found running towards the terrorists for no
reason to catch hold of them who are
already under control, They still pull, drag, shake them and the two with black
goggles and weird wigs look like two blind men being brutalized by some men in
uniform.
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| Image Courtesy: scroll.in |
I think, Raj Kumar Gupta missed a great
chance to tell a story about a youth Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa aka Yasin
Bhatkal from South India who was doctored to commit heinous terror attacks on
innocent people at various parts of India that made the soul of India tremble
with fear. He failed to even say why this man is called the 'The Most Wanted' and
how this man executed such series of blasts with precision across the country; and
where and how did the government machinery fail. This man was on news once again for being a
protest leader in Tihar jail in the month of April 2019, though lodged in an isolated
high-security cell he still manages to interact and instigate other prisoners. Raj
Kumar Gupta also missed a chance to truly hail the unsung heroes/the faceless
heroes who play significant roles in ensuring peace in the country by not
handpicking the best to write, act and execute the plot on the big screen.
If you are looking for a crime thriller that
shall keep you glued at the edge of your seat then this is not the one for you.
Give it a pass.
PEN
Movie Rating: 1.5/5
Cast:
Arjun Kapoor (Prabhat), Rajesh Sharma (Rajesh Singh), Prashanth Alexander
(Pillai), Shantilal Mukherjee (Shaumik Biswas), Sudev Nair (Yusuf)
Genre:
Crime
Thriller
Director:
Raj Kumar Gupta
Producer:
Fox Star Studios, Raj Kumar Gupta, Myra Karn
Written
by:
Written By Raj Kumar Gupta
Music
by:
Amit Trivedi
Cinematography:
Dudley
Edited
by:
Rakesh Yadav, Bodhaditya Banerjee
Production
Companies: Fox Star Studios, Raapchik Films
Distributor:
Fox Star Studios
Release
Date: 24 May 2019
Duration:
123 Minutes
Language:
Hindi
