A Wednesday Hindi Movie
One thing you're guaranteed with a movie like 'A Wednesday' is brilliant performances. With Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher as lead actors you expect nothing less than terrific performances from both.
"A WEDNESDAY" tells the story of certain events that unfold between 2 and 6 pm on a particular Wednesday - events which do not exist in any record but which deeply affects the lives of those involved.
Prakash Rathod, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai (played by Mr Anupam Kher) gets a call demanding the release of four militants in lieu of information on bombs that the man has planted in various parts of the city. At first, Prakash suspects it to be a crank call but his doubts are dispelled once he actually finds a bomb planted in the police station right opposite his Police Headquarters.
Now Prakash Rathod is in a real dilemma. Should he release the militants? Militants who have been caught at the cost of lives of police officers in the first place? Militants who are responsible for unaccountable damage to civilian lives and property? Militants who will cause further damage in the coming years, if let go scot free? Or should he just think of all the innocent people who will die today if he decides not to let them go?
Prakash Rathod is not a man who would give up so easily. He gets a team of his best men together and taps all his resources - he was going to leave no stone unturned in his mission to track down the man. He even hires a 17 year old hacker to help his team trace the calls and hence the location of this man.
Meanwhile, he comes across Naina Roy, a wannabe-something news channel reporter (played by Ms Deepal Shaw) who also has been tipped off by an anonymous caller. Time passes without any concrete results on the identity of the caller. As a backup plan, he puts two of his best men, Arif and Jai (played by Jimmy Sheirgill and Amir Bashir respectively) to hand over the four militants. It is then that events take a bizarre turn.
Suddenly, everything becomes a huge question mark. Who is this man? What is his identity? What are his intentions and what is the motive behind them? The caller (played by Mr Naseeruddin Shah) then reveals his true identity and answers these questions, raising some more in the process...
Neeraj Pandey's story and execution of the same is brilliant. There are so many scenes in this very engrossing movie, very tempted to mention them here but they would act as major spoilers. The pace is quick, the runtime is just 1 hour 35 mins or so (2 hours including interval), there are no songs and absolutely no unnecessary scenes. The director concentrates entirely on one plot and comes up with a movie that will be remembered for a long time to come. Must say, A Wednesday is one of the most engrossing movies I have seen in a long long time. It is a movie that deserves both critical acclaim and box-office success.
Naseeruddin Shah - what a terrific actor! Watch him perform the role to perfection while most actors would have fallen flat. Brilliant performance, no words!! Anupam Kher is no less; he is fantastic. It's a pleasure to see this great actor in a non comical role. Jimmy Shergill makes an impact with a great performance, I just loved the way he portrayed his well written role.
So to sum up, A Wednesday is almost a flawless thriller. Expertly directed with super performance in a movie that hits you hard! It's a must watch. At the box-office, such movies hardly have a chance. People throng to cinema halls to watch masala entertainers with big stars, while gems like A Wednesday hardly get watch they deserve. Its high time such movies do well as the box-office. Don't miss it, do watch it in theatre!
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