Disney+ Hotstar is here with their latest original film, 바카라˜Apurva바카라™. Is the Tara Sutaria, Abhishek Banerjee, Rajpal Yadav, Sumit Gulati and Dhairya Karwa starrer film worth your time? Or can you simply skip it? Read the full movie review to find out.
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Cast: Tara Sutaria, Dhairya Karwa, Abhishek Banerjee, Rajpal Yadav, Sumit Gulati, Aaditya Gupta
Available On: Disney+ Hotstar
Duration: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
바카라˜Apurva바카라™ is the story of an ordinary woman (Tara Sutaria) who faces extraordinary circumstances after getting kidnapped on the highway, and will do anything to survive. Will she be able to save herself? Or will she get gang raped? Will she be able to bring justice to the perpetrators? Or will she face an eventual and brutal death? Well, to know all that, you바카라™ll have to watch 바카라˜Apurva바카라™ to find out.
Tara Sutaria gives the performance of her life. She tries to break the cutesy girl-next-door image that she has built over the years. She is still the damsel in distress, but here she is not the good-looking girl trying to just call out sheep. On the contrary, she takes the bull by the horns and uses her skilful mind to save herself. The hard-hitting performance proves that she is not just a pretty face and she can also be entrusted with challenging characters.
Abhishek Banerjee, as usual, comes up with another memorable performance. He takes cues from Amitabh Bachchan바카라™s angry young man character from the 1970s-80s. The body language that he adopts sends shivers down your spine. The way he laced the character with his crazy antics along with a short-tempered persona makes him come out really scary. That sinister feel that he gets onto the character바카라™s face every time he is onscreen is mindblowing.
Rajpal Yadav gives a very measured and layered performance. Usually, whenever he plays a gangster or a don, he always cracks jokes or others make fun of his small stature. However, this time over, he has used his silent and resilient anger to such a high degree that you totally forget anything about his height. No one is cracking jokes on him, and his body language gives you the scare. You바카라™re made to feel like what if such a no-nonsense character comes in front of you in real life, how would you actually deal with the situation? He brought out the rough and raw side of a gangster바카라™s life really brilliantly onscreen.
Dhairya Karwa was an absolute waste. Even if his character wasn바카라™t there throughout it wouldn바카라™t have made any difference to the plot. His character could have easily been played by any junior artiste as there are barely any scenes of him. One entire scene of him with the police inspector investigating the kidnapping could have entirely been pegged with the girl바카라™s father in the centre of it rather than the fiancé. You바카라™re thinking that maybe there will be something good coming from his character in the climax, but when that too doesn바카라™t happen you바카라™re just cursing under your breath as to why the character was even there in the first place.
Nikhil Nagesh Bhat바카라™s writing is oh-so-predictable. The movie jumps right into the heart of the story right from the very first frame and if you바카라™ve seen the trailer of the film, you바카라™re assured at every instance that you know what바카라™s going to happen next. There are no unforeseen twists or turns, not even in the climax, which could make you jump off your seat. The predictability kills the fun of the film.
Nikhil Nagesh Bhat바카라™s direction tries to salvage the situation from the predictable storyline. He manages to bring in elements of surprise, but after the very first time, you바카라™re not shocked by that even. What바카라™s interesting is that he has brought out some great performances from the lead cast. He hasn바카라™t compromised on any performance and it seemed that the actors were visibly in pain when they바카라™re actually shown getting hit. Getting that level of dedication out of your actors is also a commendable job.
The cinematography by Anshuman Mahaley didn바카라™t explore the entire canvas of the outdoor locales to the best of their capabilities. The vast open lands of rural India could have been captured a lot better with the usage of overhead drone shots. Hardly do you see drone shots scavenging the entire location of the film! Also, when you바카라™re trying to make the presentation gripping and you have got the luxury of having a maze, sort of, locale where one person is hiding and the other is searching frantically, it would have made the narrative even more thrilling if you had used overheard drone shots and some fast-moving trolley shots. Those things were hardly used in the shoot.
Shivkumar V. Panicker바카라™s editing is crisp and to the point. The film starts and the very next instant you바카라™re thrown right into the centre of the hustle and bustle. There is barely any beating around the bush. To give some context, flashback sequences are there, but that too aren바카라™t too long so as to bore you or take you far away from the main plot for long. They바카라™re short, and they throw you back to the main story without leaving you feeling morose.
Vishal Mishra바카라™s music is a highlight of the film. The two songs 바카라˜Diwali바카라™ and 바카라˜Hai Khuda바카라™ are keepers. Mishra바카라™s deep baritone gives you a haunting feel that stays with you for a long time. Also, the background score by Ketan Sodha is good enough to transport you to the crux of the story.
Yes
바카라˜Apurva바카라™ is predictable from the very instant you see the trailer of the film, and there바카라™s no two ways about it. However, it바카라™s the performances of the lead cast that make the story worth your time. The way they바카라™ve performed the characters makes the film look so hard-hitting and raw from the outset. The writer-director tries to tell a tale that바카라™s quite relatable, but he isn바카라™t able to bring any iota of twists and surprises that would keep you on the edge of your seat. That was quite disappointing considering it바카라™s supposed to be a gripping thriller. Overall, it바카라™s an Average Watch. I am going with 2.5 stars, and that too wholly for the performances of the actors.