Sep 07, 2008 04:30 PM
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A number of films with terrorism-based themes hit the theatres this year (Black & White, Aamir, Mission Istaanbul, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Hijack, Tahaan). Most of them were well-made but none of them could be as impactful and powerful as ‘A Wednesday!’! With just a duration of 100 minutes, ‘A Wednesday!’ creates such a tremendous impact (esp in the last 15 minutes) that it’ll leave you shaken and speechless!
The story of the movie: On a fateful Wednesday, Commissioner Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher) receives a call from an anonymous caller (Naseeruddin Shah) and says that he has planted 5 bombs across Mumbai City and these bombs will explode at 6:30 pm sharp if his demands are not met. His demands were: release of four terrorists. Prakash Rathod, who had experience and a fearless persona, decides to take immediate action. He sets his best man in action in order to trace that anonymous caller. However, that mystery man was not good, he was the best! And the police and the intelligence fail to track him and his whereabouts! So will Commissioner Rathod give in to the demands of the caller? And who is this mystery caller? Which organization does he belong to? And what will happen next? To find out the answers, watch ‘A Wednesday!’
Reading the story, you may have felt that the movie is a typical Bollywood action thriller and would not appeal to me. If that’s what you are thinking, then you are totally wrong because ‘A Wednesday!’, with a powerful script and direction, is extremely gripping and engrossing drama. And the unexpected twists in the second half (which I haven’t revealed to prevent spoiling your joy) was just fabulous and forces you to think. And finally, the film will appeal to everyone-both the masses and the classes will love it because of the thrill and excitement and also because the message in the end comes loud and clear!
The film’s initial portions weren’t that interesting. The introduction of the important characters of the story, Prakash Rathod, Naina Roy (Deepal Shaw), Arif Khan (Jimmy Shergill) and Jai Singh (Aamir Bashir) created multiple tracks in the film and doesn’t interest much chiefly because it deviated from the important plot of the film. But with the scene where the caller calls Rathod and tells him about the bombs and release of militants, the film turns into a thrilling heluva ride and the director succeeds in maintaining the thrill and excitement till the end! In fact, by the time you’ll come out of the theatre fully satisfied, you may have even forgotten about the unexciting beginning and that’s where ‘A Wednesday!’ works!
‘A Wednesday!’ also works because of the message and the question it raises in the climax to the defence forces, judicial system (which takes 10 years to prove whether a man is a terrorist or no!), and most importantly the common people. Naseeruddin Shah’s justification for his behaviour and actions shudder you. In fact, this particular sequence provides a marvelous twist to the story and it makes ‘A Wednesday!’ one of the finest films with terrorism-based themes of the world!
As far as the performances are concerned, then everybody does its best job. But it is Naseeruddin Shah who takes away the cake! Words cannot describe his first class performance-it was just out of the world! He leaves a deep impact in the climax. I have not seen all movies of Naseeruddin Shah, but I can say without any doubt that his performance in this film is one of the outstanding performances of his career!
Anupam Kher also gives a brilliant performance. He was superb in the scene in the 1st half where he’s trying to control the situation and also in the final scene in the film which was just excellent. However, Naseeruddin Shah’s outstanding performance overshadows Anupam Kher in majority of the sequences!
Jimmy Shergill is back with a bang! I was once his fan and loved his films like Maachis, Jahaan Tum Le Chalo, Mohabbatein, Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar, Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar, Haasil, Munnabhai MBBS, Charas, Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota, Yahaan and Raqeeb. But I was very disappointed when he signed stupid films like Umar, Tom Dick And Harry, Rehguzar, Delhii Heights, Victoria No.203, Chhodon Na Yaar, Hastey Hastey etc. He lost his prestige which he had created before by signing such script-less films. But now it’s great to see him back in a classic film giving an excellent performance! Way to go, Jimmy! Aamir Bashir (Kapil of Pyaar Ke Side Effects) does a great job but he doesn’t get much scope (and dialogues) in the 2nd half!
Deepal Shaw does a wonderful job as a television journalist and it was great to see her after 3 years (her last and the 1st film was Kalyug!). Post-Kalyug, Deepal surely must have got offers for item numbers or roles which lacked meat. But good that she didn’t accept such inconsequential roles and offers and instead opted for a film like ‘A Wednesday!’. She already has 2 more films in her kitty (Right Ya Wrong and Runway).
Chetan Pandit as the CM was good. K P Mukherjee as Ibrahim Khan was terrific. Virendra Saxena and Snehal Dabhi were funny! Others were good.
The movie has 5 songs but none of them are incorporated in the film in order to keep the pace. Sanjay Chowdhary’s background score was top notch and in some scenes, it adds to the thrill! Fuwad Khan’s cinematography helped in making this film engrossing. From the promos it seemed the cinematography would disappoint but I was wrong!
Finally, Neeraj Pandey’s story, screenplay, dialogues and direction were top notch. He packs in so much in those 100 minutes that he certainly deserves a pat on his back! His dialogues were another highpoint in the film which were well-penned and superb (esp in the climax)! Thank you Mr Pandey for giving us ‘A Wednesday!’!!
Some of the best scenes of the film:
1. The first scene
2. Jimmy’s entry
3. Naseer calling Anupam Kher for the first time
4. Naseer registering an FIR
5. The intermission point
6. Jimmy and Aamir Bashir with the terrorists in the bus
7. The last 15 minutes of the film (terrific!)
On the whole, ‘A Wednesday!’ is a brilliant classic which ranks as one of the finest terrorism-based films of the world! It’s just 100 minutes in duration with no songs to hinder the pace of the film! It cannot be missed and even if you decide to give it a miss, you’ll only be at a loss! So go for ‘A Wednesday!’ and have a great time!
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