- Review : Nagrik (2015)
- Director : Jaypraad Desai
- Producers : Sacchi Entertainment
- Writer : Mahesh Keluskar and Jaypraad Desai
- Cast : Sachin Khedekar, Milind Soman, Devika Daftardar, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Rajesh Sharma, Dr Shriram Lagoo
- Music : Tubby-Parik and Sambhaji Bhagat
- Genre : Political Drama
- Review By : Keyur Seta
Rating: 3.5/5
Review:
An
honest and fearless protagonist stranded in a grossly corrupt system is
not a novel subject. But a tried and tested subject ceases to be one if
treated completely in an out-of-the-box or unconventional manner. It is
this treatment that makes
Nagrik an impressive, hard-hitting and intense socio-political saga.
The
film revolves around the idealistic, fearless and honest-to-the-core
newspaper journalist Shyam Jagdale (Sachin Khedekar). He is known for
his column Nagrik, where he exposes corrupt practices. His recent column
exposes the utterly corrupt and ruthless politician Vikas Patil’s
(Milind Soman) idea of orchestrating communal riots. However, this
doesn’t go well with his new editor with lose morals.
As the
editor is more interested in generating revenue, Jagdale isn’t allowed
to publish any more of such stories. Hence, Patil continues his shoddy
practices for political gains as a helpless Jagdale looks on. He soon
realizes that Patil is just a cog in the entire corrupt machinery.What’s
worse is that Jagdale’s personal life is also far from perfect. Will
things ever change within his house and outside?
Nagrik
doesn’t follow a conventional storyline. It is more of an attempt of
providing a glimpse into the filthy world of corrupt politics and the
murky underbelly of Mumbai in a completely no-holds-barred manner. Due
to some skillful efforts of the writer and director, the film succeeds
in its attempt. The viewer is sucked into a truly intense world, which
stays on with him/ her long after the completion of the film.
The
practice of generating a hard-hitting effect through visuals,
expressions and silences isn’t explored much in Indian films. Off late
though, the trend if catching up where a particular scene says a lot
without saying much.
Nagrik continues the trend very
successfully. This results in a number of sequences and incidents that
hit you hard without the use of clichéd lines. There is a long
non-verbal sequence in the second half portraying the irony of the life
in Mumbai, which is the highlight of the film.
However,
Nagrik,
has its share of downfalls. After a point of time in the second half,
the proceedings tend to lose grip when nothing much is happening in
terms of story development. Few incidents, in this half, are
questionable. Also, the climax isn’t as hard-hitting or something that
provides a kick. Thankfully, these issues don’t do much in overriding
the plusses.
Sambhaji Bhagat’s folk songs played in the background
go well with the situation and add up to the effect. From the rest of
the tracks, ‘Bola Vithal’ is impressive. The camerawork goes with the
intense theme. The background score also adds to the intensity. But
majority of the times, they have decided against using any background
music and it works that way.
Some
dedicated performances also play a major role. Sachin Khedekar
brilliantly brings out the right frustration and vulnerability. Having
said this, he scores well during witty confrontational scenes with
Soman. But Milind Soman too makes a solid impact. He is outstanding as a
ruthless, corrupt but at the same time, calm-headed politician. Dilip
Prabhavalkar isn’t behind, as is expected from a quality veteran, as
another corrupt politician.
Dr. Shriram Lagoo, another thespian,
displays his talent in a difficult role of an ex-politician agonized by
the sorry state of affairs. The film can also boast of some high quality
performances from Devika Daftardar, Rajesh Sharma (Bollywood actor
making his Marathi film debut), Neena Kulkarni, Sulabha Deshpande,
Madhav Abhyankar and Rajkumar Tangade.
Overall:
Nagrik
is a hard-hitting realistic socio-political saga that is recommended
for the lovers of sensible cinema. It is expected to do fairly well at
the box office provided it receives positive word-of-mouth.
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