MADAARI

Miraj Entertainment, Bharat Shah, Easemytrip.com, Paramhans Creations, Dore Films and Saptrishi Cinevision’s Madaari (UA) is the story of how a common man teaches the government a lesson of a lifetime.

Nirmal (Irrfan Khan), a common man, kidnaps Rohan (master Vishesh Bansal), son of the home minister (Tushar Dalvi). Nirmal is seeking justice for a wrong which has cost him dear.

All hell breaks loose in the corridors of power when the news of the kidnapping spreads. The home minister asks trusted police officer Nachiket (Jimmy Shergill) to investigate and ensure that his kidnapped son is brought back. While Nirmal keeps telephoning Nachiket and even speaks with the home minister, he doesn’t reveal where he is. He also doesn’t reveal his identity, where he is from and the wrong which had affected his life. This makes the task of Nachiket’s team extremely difficult. For, while they are asked by Nirmal to tell him who is responsible for the injustice done to him, they don’t even know what the injustice is. The information has to be given to Nirmal within the stipulated time period, failing which Nirmal would not release the home minister’s son.

What happens thereafter? What progress does Nachiket make? Is the government able to answer Nirmal’s query? Is the home minister able to secure his son’s release? What is the wrong due to which Nirmal goes to the extent of kidnapping the minister’s son? Does Nirmal succeed in getting justice?

Shailja Kejriwal has penned a story which is quite different from the routine stuff. However, there is not much of a suspense, because of which the audience is rarely on tenterhooks. The viewer understands quite well that Nirmal would not unnecessarily murder the home minister’s son and, therefore, the nail-biting excitement of a thriller is missing. In other words, Nirmal is shown to be too much of a gentleman right from the beginning, for the audience to ever skip a heartbeat or two. So, although the story is different, it doesn’t engage the view­ers as much as it should. Ritesh Shah’s screenplay is good in parts only. While some portions keep the audiences involved, there are other portions which bore them, sometimes because they are predictable and at other times because they are repetitive. The home minister’s son is made to mouth dialogues which do not suit his age, and this irritates the audience. All in all, the screenplay loses its grip on the viewers quite a few times, taking away the excitement quotient from the thriller. Climax holds promise of novelty and excitement before it starts but it turns out to be similar to climaxes seen in earlier films. Ritesh Shah’s dialogues are effective but he should have taken care to give believable dialogues to Rohan to mouth.

Irrfan Khan lives the role of Nirmal. Whether it is as the loving father, devastated dad, man on a revenge spree or a commoner, he is extraordinary. His acting is so effortless that it’s a delight to watch him perform. Jimmy Shergill gives a noteworthy performance. He underplays the character of Nachiket to advantage. Tushar Dalvi is quite effective as the home minister. In the role of his party secretary, Uday Tikekar is excellent. He uses his body language and expressions very effectively. Nitesh Pandey is entertaining as the television news host. Master Vishesh Bansal is confident as Rohan. Rajeev Gupta stands out in a brief role as Mr. Bansal. As Bansal’s son, Chiku, master Sadhil Kapoor lends proper support. Master Kedar Bagaria looks cute and acts reasonably well in the role of Apurva, son of Nirmal. Ravi Mahashabde and Akash Dabas lend lovely support as Nachiket’s assistants. Ayesha Raza is al­right as the home minister’s wife. Purva Parag (as Nirmal’s wife), Vikrant Singh (as barber), Jitendra Gupta (as home secretary), Rajat Bhalla (as political aide), Umesh Shrivastav (as NIA chief Raghuvaran), Manoj Bakshi (as director IB, Govind Bakshi), Sunil Bedi (as RAW chief Shivender Singh), K.N. Joshi (as defence minister), Gurvinder Singh (as army officer), Vikas Jain and Manish Raj (both as cops at the bus stand), Radha (as Chiku’s mother), Dr. Vivek Rajpal (as prime minister), Sachin Pathak (as lodge receptionist), Sabir Khan (as opposition leader Jogi), Sanjeev Sahay (as opposition leader), Deepak Shroff (as Fareed Wadia), Pallavi Mishra (as Fareed Wadia’s wife), Chandraprakash Thakur (as structural engineer), Vaibhav (as engineer’s son), Satya­jeet Bhattacharya (as contractor Abhay Sahani) and the others are adequate.

Nishikant Kamat’s direction is good but there are problems in it. He has not been able to keep the audience’s interest alive throughout the drama. Also, his narration is of the kind which does not give the audience a feeling of fulfilment at the end. The narrative fails to emotionally move the viewers. Music (Vishal Bhardwaj – ‘Dama dam dam’ song; Sunny Bawra and Inder Bawra – ‘Masoom sa’ number) is good but not hit or even hummable. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics are weighty. Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry (‘Bol ke labh azad hai’) at the end is meaningful. Sameer Phaterpekar’s background music is nice. Cinematography (by Avinash Arun) is appropriate. Kaushal-Moses’ action scenes are fair. Rita Ghosh’s art direction and Sukant Panigraphy’s production designing are good. Aarif Sheikh’s editing is effective.

On the whole, Madaari is an ordinary fare which will barely touch the average mark, if at all. Business in the big cities and in circuits like Bombay, Delhi-U.P., East Punjab and South will be better than in circuits like C.P. Berar, C.I., Rajasthan and Bihar. It will win more critical acclaim than box-office rewards.