An Aam Aadmi's Angst. Review on Wednesday

The common man, or the Aam Aadmi, he is the man without a face. Just one of the persons in a crowd. Working to make a living, and just trying to survive.

Be it getting stuck in rains or  bomb blasts.  Traffic Jams or Power cuts, he just has to get along with life. Commentators call it the spirit of the common man. For him its just a matter of survival. But what happens when the common man, can no longer take things lying down? What if he is fed up with the misrule and corruption, the chaos around him, and decides to take things in his own hands?

*A Wednesday is a movie that looks at this perspective.

A Wednesday is the story of  commissioner  Prakash Rathod( Anupam Kher), on the verge of retirement, who recalls a particularly quirky case. One fine day, he gets a call, from a person, whose name and identity are unknown( Naseeruddin Shah).The person who calls him seems like any other ordinary man on the street. Except  that what he is doing is not very ordinary. He asks the Comissioner to  release 4 dreaded terrorists in prison.

The alternative, watch bombs go off all over Mumbai, giving a repeat of 2003 and 2006.  The Commisioner now has to race against time, and this faceless mastermind.  He is aided in this mission by  two cops, a volatile, hot headed, impulsive  Arif Khan( Jimmy Shergill) and a more sober, but equally tough Jai Singh( Aamir Bashir).  And there is also the character of a TV journalist, Naina Roy( Deepal Shaw) in the picture.

*Who is this nameless, faceless perpetrator?  Will he be succesful in his mission?  Well just watch the movie, and I mean it.

A Wednesday is a thriller, but not like your standard  Hollywood inspired one. Though the movie has shades of Falling Down and Die Hard 3, it is a totally rivetting movie right from the word go. The movie is not your standard thriller, no car chases, no big explosions, no baddies in cool suits, no item songs, no dream songs in exotic locales. And yet it grips you from start to end. The movie works more as a cat and a mouse game between the commissioner and the protagonist.  The strength of A Wednesday lies in its uncomplicated, no nonsense approach. At no stage does the story go off course, or off track.Director Neeraj Pandey, ** sticks to the main storyline, with no deviations, and that works. You are left breathless and wondering what is going to happen next. And that is what a thriller is about.  But where the director scores, is in the climax.  The twist in the ending, and the revelation, just hit you straight in the face. Clearly one of the best climaxes in recent times.

Some of the best scenes in the movie

1) The introduction of the main characters

2) Anupam Kher convincing the CM to grant him total power.

3) Naseer  setting up his apparatus.

4) The discovery of the first bomb.

5) And of course the twist in the climax, and the final 15 minutes.

The movie does have its share of flaws.

1) Not much background is given on Naseer, to show how he could have so succesfully set up such a complex scheme

2) Some of the scenes like a convict peeing in his pants on seeing Jimmy Shergill seem pretty Bollywoodish.

3) Also in this age of 24/7 news channels, it does seem strange, that only one TV network, knows the details of entire operation.

But again most of these flaws can be overlooked, as the end product is superlative, and stands head and shoulders above the standard Bolly movie. And yes it has got some great performances.

Deepal Shaw is adequate as the TV journalist.  Aamir Bashir as the tough cop Jai Singh is another fine talent, knocking on the doors of Bollywood.

The surprise I thought was Jimmy Shergill, who is brilliant as the hot headed, volatile cop Aarif. Most of the times i  saw him as a sweet young man in some inane romantic movies, and for me he was just an okayish actor. But he has put on a fabulous performance here. Arjun Rampal earlier in Rock On and now Jimmy in A Wednesday, have shown that given a good script and a role, they are really good.

Anupam Kher, after sleepwalking through a host of meaningless roles, is outstanding as the Commissioner Prakash Rathod. It was a delight to see Anupam at his best after quite a long time.

But the performance of the movie goes to a man, who I regard as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema, Naseeruddin Shah. What I really love about Naseer is the effortless way he slips into the skin of the character, without making a big deal of it. When he is on screen, you see the character, you dont see Naseer. Be it negotiating with the comissioner, or talking to his wife like an Aam aadmi or his final speech, Naseerjust slips from one phase to another, so naturally, that it does not look like acting.

A Wednesday is not a perfect movie, it has its flaws.  The ending message might not go down well with all. But still this is a movie to be watched and not to be missed at all. And of course for an acting legend called Naseeruddin Shah.