Sehar - Film review. Review on Sehar

This is a tribute to those film makers who subtract flamboyancy from the narrative of the film based on real life incidents. One of them is Kabeer Kaushik who has directed this film(and very recently – chamku). Sehar means - Morning and the movie revolves around some torch bearers who continue to search for this morning.

The story

Heavily inspired by the real events in and around Uttar Pradesh, the story revolves around a new SSP who has been posted to Lucknow(and he has his roots in the city as well) and how he picks up a handful of loyal officers to try and erase the corruption deeply rooted in awarding railway contracts, contract killing, gangster-builder nexus, political vengeance and drugs. In doing all this, the challenges in tracking the criminals is beautifully and realistically portrayed(read - challenges in technology)

The actors

Without a doubt the film revolves around the SSP, played by Arshad warsi and a handful of his men to chase and hunt down Gajraj singh, played brilliantly by Sushant Singh. In the process we are introduced to the brilliant Suhasini Mulay who plays Arshad Warsi’s mother, Mahima chaudhry who plays Arshad warsi’s fiancé. There are other good actors whom we have seen on TV and they make up for a wonderful team in the movie. Without any Circuit histrionics, Arshad Warsi zooms over all but is only bettered by Pankaj Kapoor(I wont tell you what is the character he plays in the film)

There are a lot of comical incidents in the film that wont bowl you out of your seat but can aptly be said that they do it well to provide'comic relief' and thats just about it. Watch how UP police steals the punch line of Delhi police!:)

The music

I have posted the music review today at mouthshut and you can see it here

https://mouthshut.com/review/Sehar_Album-165059-1.html

The music of the film doesn’t come in between the viewer and the narrative. Extremely adaptive and wonderfully composed. Kudos!

The direction, editing, screenplay and all the other technicalities which I don’t understand but feel I am wise enough to comment upon:

The editing of the movie is crisp, the screenplay dips a bit in between but when you see the movie, sometimes the build up or the part where the situations are established(that lead to the build up) can take sometime. All the fighting scenes and sad scenes are dealt with maturely minus any flamboyance, and that is a big feat. The movie did not work because it did not glorify gangsters like RGV does. The entire Mahima Chaudhry angel could have ended better one can argue but then, in real life things seldom go according to a perfect screenplay. Kabeer Kaushik might not thrill you with his camera moves but he surely knows how to leave an impact with lesser known technicians at work!

The manner in which the characters converse and draw reference to some incidents goes on to show how thoroughly the film and the surroundings were researched. Kudos again!

To conclude

There was a criminal who was maintained by politicians of Uttar Pradesh. His name was Shri Prakash Shukla. The film is based on how some dedicated policemen gave their lives away in trying to crackdown this guy. Having grown up in Uttar Pradesh at the time when Shri Prakash shukla stole regional headlines, I was able to relate to the film totally. Some situations(like an attempt by the SSP to work freely across the state without informing the local police) speak volumes about the level of involvement of our politicians with those who are hell bent on destroying our society. Also watch the threat which the mobile phones gave to the state police because there was no monitoring system for tracking the mobile telephony**(isn’t it the responsibility of the government to establish a monitoring mechanism before they allow ‘breakthrough communication technology’ to be launched?)

I have deliberately kept myself away from telling what Pankaj Kapoor has done in the movie but all I can tell you is the film narrated by him in the flashback and even if you aren’t from UP, your eyes will well up in the end.

I continue to wait for the day when my Lucknow would be a safe place for one and all.

Peace and equanimity