A Wednesday - Neeraj Pandey

Warning: Major spoilers ahead. Read at your own discretion

There are some films that perhaps may not be of much value in terms of contribution to the evolution of cinema, but they are simply great because they make the writing on the wall more prominent than ever before. A Wednesday is one such thought provoking film that is bound to make the common man think – to purge ourselves of the habits of making compromises, surrendering to our fates and giving up on ourselves as the initiators or drivers of a change badly needed.

The Chief Commissioner of Mumbai police, Prakash Rathore (played by Anupam Kher) narrates the events on of the most memorable day of his life – A warm, sunny Wednesday when he gets a call from a supposed terrorist who has planted bombs in four parts of the cities. Prakash, a very well respected and feared police officer is told that unless he releases four dangerous criminals in the next four hours, the terrorist shall detonate the four bombs in different parts of the city causing death of hundreds of civilians. Realizing that the person on the other end of the line is not fooling around, Rathore mobilizes all his resources to find and diffuse the bomb before the madman pushes the buttons. He picks his two best men – Senior Inspector Jai Singh – a fearless and determined cop, and a ruthless ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad) officer Arif Khan (Jimmy Shergill) to lead the pack.

The unnamed mastermind (played effortlessly by hugely talented Naseeruddin Shah), sits on the rooftop of a derelict building and watches the chaos in the Central Police Station through the lens of a TV reporter Naina (Deepal Shaw), who he’s informed regarding the situation. Rathore tries his best to pinpoint his location, but the fugitive is too good for him. Shah is a genius with technology - he switches mobile numbers every few minutes, and does not give away any hints on his whereabouts. While the whole police force is running around trying to find the bomb, Rathore helplessly tries to solve the puzzle in vain.

Rathore soon gives in to the mastermind’s demand, and agrees to free the four feared terrorist, promising to deliver them at an abandoned airstrip outside the town. He does have something under his sleeve, but is waiting for the right time to execute his plan. He, however, has a major surprise waiting for him. No sooner than his subordinates leave the four men near a bench on the airstrip, a cellphone-triggered bomb goes off under the bench, killing three of the terrorists on the spot. The fourth is rescued inadvertently by an impulsive Arif, who informs to a flabbergasted Rathore, that the plan was never to rescue them, but to kill them. Upon being informed by Rathore that the bomb took three, and not four lives, the agitated mastermind orders Arif and Co. to kill the fourth one as well. Prakash urges the mastermind to first explain why he wanted to kill the terrorists, supposedly his allies, instead of rescuing them. The mastermind then proceeds to divulge the reasons.

His revelations come as a surprise to not just the characters of the film, but to the audience as well. It just goes on to prove that when pushed hard enough, the “stupid common man” will go to any extent to merely survive or take things into his own hands instead of relying on the authorities or the government to do what’s needed. He is a regular husband, a father, a son, who has been living in fear all his life stepping out of house, or travelling in local trains, until he decides to do something about it. While most of us sit as spectators, taking all the blows and withstanding all storms for no reason, there are some who take the prerogative in cleansing the society of the filth. Some do it silently, while others resort to drastic measures. Same was reinforced in the 2006 Indian film Rang De Basanti, a film about four youth who avenge the death of a pilot friend by murdering a corrupt minister and surrendering to the police later, only to be killed for their “crime”.

The new breed of Indian movies like A Wednesday have played a crucial role in ushering in a new era of intellectual cinema – one that focus more on underlying messages than plot developments, mindless song-and-dance routines (that Bollywood is famous for), victory of righteousness in the end, or plain old love stories with a twist. Off late, there has been a movement by many stellar directors to bring to fore issues of suppression, rebellion, corruption and social evils. If A Wednesday offers a different perspective on terrorism (or the means to deal with it), there are others that offer more conventional approaches, but are equally hard-hitting. Even though this movie is categorized as a thriller (which it is without any doubt), it is an eye-opener by an equal measure – the story of a common man going to any extent to relieve himself of the fear that pervades him, his city and his country as he merely tries to lead a normal life sans fear.

Neeraj Pandey, the “mastermind” behind A Wednesday was able to rope in two of the most accomplished actors for this venture of his – Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah. Both are actors par excellence and anyone who knows about Indian Cinema, would know about these two and their ability to get inside the skin of characters they portray. Both veterans have reunited after a gap of 12 years, and have delivered stellar performances in this thriller. If Shah is ruthless and methodical, like any strategist would be, Kher is fearless and authoritative; they are perfect foes in a battle of intelligence. However, Shah still manages to eclipse Kher slightly, (both in terms of his intelligence, as well as histrionics) and he better – he is the main subject of the film, the troubled common man, after all. They both convince us so well that should such characters exist anywhere, they would exactly be like them. Amir Bashir as Jai, Deepal Shaw as Naina, and Jimmy Shergill as Arif Khan have done a commendable job as well, even though their roles were not as meaty as their senior counterparts’.

Cinematography as another aspect of this film that deserves praise. One fine example is the shot with Naseeruddin Shah on a rooftop against the backdrop of the city that has been used repeatedly. This perhaps indicates his “lording over” the city he commands right now.

Pandey deserves accolades for this film, which has been packaged as a drama-thriller, but is more representative of what I’d like borrow from the French, and call the “New Indian Wave” of cinema. Realistic, hard-hitting, and impactful to the core, this cinema is bound to make sit up and think instead of cheering the hero for saving the world. There’s cinema that makes you go back all happy and optimistic that things are going to be okay, and there’s cinema that makes you question the status quo and become the catalyst of change. A Wednesday belongs to the latter kind.

If films like A Wednesday, Rang De Basanti, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Aamir, Johnny Gaddar, et al are any indication of what to expect from Indian Cinema, I can safely comment that we have a lot of thinking to do. And lot of changes to make. I say it’s about time…

A Trailer of the year's best Indian movie