Movie Review - A Wednesday


Movie: A Wednesday
Cast: Anupam Kher, Aamir Bashir, Deepal Shaw, Gaurav Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah,
Rajpal Yadav, Jimmy Shergill


Cinematographer: Fuwad KhanSound
Designer: Rakesh Ranjan
Producer: Anjum Rizvi, Shital Bhatia
Banner: Anjum Rizvi Film Company
Director: Neeraj Pandey

An angry common man wages his war against the system in ‘A Wednesday’.
Now, here’s a flick that could make your day. It doesn’t send you home romping with joy and crooning sweet songs shot at scenic locales in some distant continent. A Wednesday has none of that Bollywood guck and gimmickry. What it does have is a riveting plot, directed skillfully and imaginatively by writer-director Neeraj Pandey. And it has wonderful performances by its two unglamorous but charismatic leading men – Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher .

‘A Wednesday’ is a film set right in our backyard, in Mumbai. And it talks about terrorism from a new angle. The antagonist in it doesn’t come with a stereotyped religious label. In fact, he has no label at all. He is a ‘common man’ who vents out his angst by taking on the system and trying to bring it down to its knees. Only an obdurate Police Commissioner can foil his mission.

Anupam Kher plays that top cop. On a fateful Wednesday he receives a call from a man who claims to have planted bombs in different parts of the city, set to go off at half-past six in the evening. The caller (Naseeruddin Shah, the great) describes self as a ‘common man’ and demands the release of four terrorists if the impending calamity has to be averted.

The threat sends the cops into overdrive as the Commissioner, with the help of an ATS commando ( Jimmy Shergill ) and a tough cop (Aamir Bashir) and a journalist ( Deepal Shaw ), tries to foil the common man’s uncommonly dangerous plan. What’s most remarkable about the movie is that it keeps you gripped despite opening its cards at the very outset. Yes, you are told at the start what the end is going to be. What keeps you hooked is how the plot meanders through many unexpected twists and turns before reaching its predictable denouement.

Kudos to Neeraj Pandey and his technical team for putting together a neat, cohesive and engrossing film about a subject that’s beginning to feature more than often in Bollywood movies. But hats off to Naseer bhai for yet another memorable performance. To the every inch of his skin does Naseer bhai look the angst-ridden antagonist who takes up cudgels against the system in an extreme way. Anupam Kher manages to bring about a calculated balance of calm, control and panic in his performance.

Jimmy Shergill is much better than what we saw last of him. Aamir Bashir shows only flashes of good acting. Deepal Shaw is okay.
What’s not okay is the slightly preachy mode the movie slips into at the end. After all, the last thing we need at the end of the day is a lecture. This, and a few foibles apart, ‘A Wednesday’ makes for a paisa vasool watch.
Rating: ***1/2





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11 Review on Movie:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the review. Here's what I have to say about the movie, 'A Wednesday',.. http://www.gauravs.com/movie-review/a-wednesday

Whats In A Name on September 08, 2008 4:52 PM said...

Hey the movie is good.. And I think it deserves a 5...
:-)
Good reviews...

Anonymous said...

A Wednesday is a masterpiece!!
hands down to neeraj pandey....

Anonymous said...

i watched this movie and then i recommended this movie to my friends,everbody texted me back after watching...........we never knew bollywood is capable of that.10/10.this is untypical bollywood movie.I am sure this is the time when hollywood should learn how to make a great thriller.
Keep Blogging:)

Anonymous said...

Please take this review from online immediately. You are doing injustice to people who are reading you review before going to see the movie.
Disclosing the fact that N. Shah is a common man, does take off a lot of suspense from the movie... I think its a wonderfull mvie, and let the readers go and finf out what happens in the end! Please edit this review or take it off!

Anonymous said...

hey it is great movie and surely deserve 4.5/5 , this is real original .

Anonymous said...

Hi All,
I think the movie was good dont you guys think that Farhaan Akhtar did show over aggression.
And the songs were all great. felt good hear something different after a long time?

Vaibhav

Anonymous said...

Hi All,
I think the movie was good dont you guys think that Farhaan Akhtar did show over aggression.
And the songs were all great. felt good hear something different after a long time?

Anonymous said...

Nice movie from bollywood after a long time and seriously enjoyed it.
The movie poses a question to us all and asks us that when the common man will start fighting against terrorism, and shows one unique way to do that.

Vaibhav

Anonymous said...

Simly great and deserves oscar. Hats off to Neeraj & team. However, couple of incidents in the movie have been bothering me. (a) Kher says "That Bastard" at the begining og the story. Why? Does he talk about Shah or the terriorists. I was not able to understand. (b) When Shah is a common man, how come his picture comes up on a slide show that is presented to kher during investigations. These two incidents in the movie leaves a black spot of the screen play if i have understood correctly. If not, pls help me understand so that i relax with a feeling that it was great with no flaws. I wish i missed something.. Pls let me know. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

none of its kind...
awesome movie...g8 concept.really intersting.......a must watch...
thanks 2 Naseeruddin Shah ,neejar pandey , anupam kher 4 makin such a wounderful movie..........

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Ankit
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