A man named Nirmal loses his family. Review on Madaari

Remember A Wednesday? Madaari is the same brand of cinema. It's unlike anything you've seen before. It takes a courageous stand to highlight everything that's wrong with the system of Indian democracy. The state of corruption, the apathy towards the common man, the lack of accountability across the country, everything is said out loud in this film. Remarkably the movie chooses to do this with a conversational style that's a rare sight in Hindi cinema. It does not spoon feed the viewer. It takes a human tragedy and turns into a critique of the social and political system. Unlike A Wednesday there's no monologue, instead a subtle reflection on everything that should change in our democracy.

The first half of Madaari is atmospheric and effective. A random stranger kidnaps the son of India's Home Minister. That incident creates political inertia, where the government goes into damage control and disinformation, while the media and the opposition get into release of information. The investigation makes the crux of the narrative, the random stranger's odd demands add a punch to the story. As it turns out, the random stranger is Nirmal(Irrfan Khan) who's lost his son in a tragedy and now he wants the truth. Madaari is a game of misdirection and deception. The far-fetched second half features Nirmal leading the investigators on and the commanding officer Nachiket(Jimmy Sheirgill) trying to outwit him. It eventually leads onto a dramatic climax where all the truths are revealed. But the misdirection and twists become a bit too theatrical and dramatic.

Despite its honest appeal, Madaari is a flawed film. The main problem is that where the treatment of the film by director Nishikant Kamath should've been subtle, like the dialogue driven conversations of his screenplay, his choices are the exact opposite. He chooses to engage the drama with loud blaring background music with thundering effects that you'd expect from a Michael Bay film. This particular theatrical treatment becomes all the more obvious in the second half, robbing the film of moments that could break your heart. Instead, you sit there and marvel at a no-holds-barred climax where a lot of actual political truth is revealed in a jingoistic tone.

Despite the glaring flaws and some really cacophonous music, the message of Madaari is resoundingly strong. The movie's writing saves the directorial hotch-potch. At the center of all the goodness in Madaari is a perfectly nuanced performance by Irrfan Khan. It's a showcase of his abilities as an actor. The way he handles grief, anger, humour and frustration all in effortless fashion is remarkable. Jimmy Sheirgill playing the wily tough cop is good too.

There are certain moments in the first half of Madaari that are both powerful and subtle. Even though the second half barely manages to scrape through, this film on the broad and capable shoulders of Irrfan Khan manages to deliver the right punch. This Madaari will have your dormant nationalism and parental emotions dancing out with thundering effect. The message here is loud and clear