Review of Hindi Film Dirshyam:
Written by Vijay Bhatt for Happy New Year! 2020 Blogpost
Tired after an event-filled Christmas-New Year break on the first Saturday of 2020 evening, a million dollar question arose- what to do tonight? It is as if we arrived at the boarding area hours earlier! Our friends invited to watch Dirshyam in their newly built home theatre.
We cannot thank them enough for enriching our precious Saturday evening with such gripping and entertaining thriller with somewhat dark genre I have ever watched!
One of the few best Bollywood movies I have watched recently! I highly recommend.
Drishyam by writer Upendra Sidhaye and director Nishikant Kamat is a Hindi version of Jeethu Joseph’s 2013 Malayalam thriller of the same name, remade first in Tamil ( Papanasam, again directed by Joseph). The original roots of the plot and story is from a Japanese novel written by Keigo Higashino. So the movie has previous avatar! I have not seen or read any previous ones. In this review I will not reveal anything that will take away your thunder and thrill.
-The plot is around a simple 4th grade educated cable TV businessman Vijay( Ajay Devgan) living in Goa area with his wife Nandini(Shriya Saran), teenage daughter Anju(Ishita Dutta), and younger daughter Anu(Mrunal Jadhav). When Anju goes on a school camp she was staked, and was secretly videotaped while she was taking a shower, by a bully teen boy Sam(Rishab Chadha). Sam was the only son of a powerful Inspector General of Police Meera Deshmukh(Tabu). Upon return from camp, Sam shows Anju her showering video and tries to blackmail her for sexual favors. Sam visited Anju’s home when her father Vijay was away. Anju and her mom Nandini confronted Sam in self defense and hit a rod which kills Sam. Scared and frantic daughter-mom buried Sam in the yard while the little girl Anu also witnessed. When the Vijay returns home finds out and strategizes for alibis to protect his girls and wife.
The gripping story starts now. Every moment after this is quite capturing. After few days whole police department starts searching for IGP's missing son Sam.The twist and turns and how a simple 4th grade educated man plans and strategizes to create alibis.
-Some lengthier scenes almost tested my patience to my own excitement. All cast acted very well. The mother (Nandini) of the teenager girl (Anju) looks much younger for a mother of a a teenager, but her beautiful looks is a good excuse for such minor technicality in casting.
The movie also points to the typical shortcomings of the police departments in India.
-Ajay Devgan’s (as Vijay) tough stern demeanor did justice to project as protective family man even if he is just a 4th grade educated layman, without crossing in to becoming a typical Bollywood protagonist.
-Tabu’s (a tough IGP and an emotional mother) expressions were Tabu’s! A very mature actress just fits the role. It is a tough challenge for an actor to project image to inflict on viewers two opposite sentiments simultaneously, one of hate and of sympathy, which to her credit Tabu met brilliantly!
-As Shreya Saran is a beautiful woman, but director rightly decided not to expose her glamour. She acted aptly for her role.
- Both girls acted very well especially Mrunal ( Anu) the younger one acted as a frightened girl superbly.
-The scenes of police beating may be too much for some to handle, caution and discretion is warned.
-The writer has not changed the plot much from the original. The director could have shortened the movie by twenty minutes but the plot itself is so magnetic that viewers may lose the sense of time while watching.
-Cinematography deserves credit for lighting throughout the movie. All in-door shots have bright and clear lighting without any filters or shades unlike most Bollywood movies. Typically filtered lighting creates subtle subconscious bias in viewer's mind and enhances the scene. Also, cinematographer used Goa's landscape to the advantage to create non-urban set-up, which is unique in thriller. Most thrillers have a lot of visual and lighting impact. Here the director took a successful risk and got more marks!
-With a fear of counter arguments for my exaggerated ranking (e.g., A Wednesday), I still rank this as probably the best Hindi thriller I have watched.
-If you have 160 minutes to get an intense ride and excitement, go for it! (I give it 9+ out of 10)
(Drishyam is available on Netflix)
Review of Hindi Film Dirshyam: Written by Vijay Bhatt for Happy New Year! 2020 Blogpost
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