A Thursday Movie Review: Well, who thought A Wednesday could lend itself into some sort of franchise! After Naseeruddin Shah's 'common man' gave a thundering response to the terrorists in the Neeraj Pandey film, now it is the turn of Yami Gautam to do something similar in A Thursday. What? Spoiler? Come on, have you not seen A Wednesday? Did you ever think the main lead of a Hindi film would be a Cruella, keeping kids as hostages to further her nefarious purposes? Clearly, you haven't have seen much of Bollywood then. A Thursday Review: Yami Gautam, Neha Dhupia’s Disney+ Hotstar Thriller Is a Decent Watch, As Per Critics.

Okay fine, no more spoilers. Yami Gautam plays Naina, who runs a playschool in a well-to-do building complex. We see her being quite the good teacher to the kids and in keeping their parents relaxed about leaving the children at her school. We see her in a happy space with her fiance Rohit (Karanvir Sharma), a criminal lawyer. And then she suddenly cracks up her goody-goody exterior for us, as she wields a gun, locks up the doors and then calls up the cops to tell her that she has placed 15 kids as hostages and if her demands are not met, she will kill them one by one. And yes, she also live-streams her demands on social media.

What is Naina's endgame? Why does she want Javed Khan (Atul Kulkarni), a beleaguered cop, involved in the negotiation process? Will she really kill the kids as she has been giving threats? Why does she wants to speak to the Prime Minister of India, played by Dimple Kapadia? Why is the said PM get frequently hailed like our present PM but is suspiciously styled as the Opposition Leader?

Save for that last one, A Thursday answers the questions by the end, though the individual impact of each of the response left me with mixed bag of emotions.

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Collectively, though, I was pleasantly surprised with A Thursday. It is gripping, thrillingly paced and keeps you engaged till the end. Behzad Khambata, the director, had earlier made Blank, which starred Sunny Deol and debutante Karan Kapadia. It was a very forgettable film but had an interesting plot hook. Later Blank was infamously responsible for its scene of Jameel Khan's fanatic leader discoursing jihad that gets frequently shared by RW groups with fake narratives. Are Muslims Kids Being Trained to Make ‘Kashmir’ Out of India? Madhu Purnima Kishwar Tweets Scene From a Sunny Deol Movie As Fake News.

A Thursday is a huge improvement over Blank, in terms of direction, writing and performances. There are some twists and turns here with regards to Naina's motivations. Not unpredictable as such, because like I said in my first para, A Wednesday has prepared us for what to expect in A Thursday. What hooked me here is not whether Naina would kill her hostages, but to know why Naina is doing what she is doing and who is the target in the end.

In between, there are some character moments I truly liked. Like, for example, when Rohit learns a secret about Naina's past, his reaction is a mix of shock and helplessness as he holds the hand of a character sitting next to him in comfort. It is quite a tender moment that is very touching.

It was also quite a good writing 'masterstroke' to have a female Prime Minister, in terms of its plot conflict. Wouldn't have had the same effect during the final negotiation scene, if it was a male character. Also Dimple Kapadia brings a strong sense of authority to the role. OTT Releases of the Week: Yami Gautam’s A Thursday on Disney+ Hotstar, Huma Qureshi’s Mithya on ZEE5, Shruti Haasan’s Bestseller on Amazon Prime Video and More.

While A Wednesday involved media through only one character, here the whole media circus is brought into play, including social media. From voting who should die next to news anchors shouting dramatically for TRPs while displaying zero lack of knowledge or ethics, the satirisation is hard to miss, even if it gets irritating at times. The subplot involving Maya Sarao's character felt like a very condensed version of Kartik Aaryan's Dhamaka. I felt these portions a little superficial, though I understand from the writing process why they were needed in the story.

The third act also left me with mixed emotions. Without going into spoilers, it presents a very serious social issue but like with A Wednesday, takes a very populist stand on it. It harps on the final solution to curb the menace, but doesn't exactly delve into the bigger problems that stops us from effectively using that final solution, like the haggard process of justice ensurement, which includes even registering an FIR. No amount of bills and laws can be effective when the system is not made smooth enough to get that processed. So it is annoying that A Thursday conveniently skips the half-measures that obstructs the justice process, especially when privileged culprits are involved. This is made more so, when in a flashback scene, the movie itself shows how unempathetic the police handles such cases.

What makes the final scene somewhat effective is when Naina shares her anguish of what transpired, and Yami Gautam's effective performance. There are certain statements that hit you strongly - I wish I could expand more on this without being SPOILERish - like for example, showing gender empathy isn't enough to understand the pain of a victim. There is also a twist about a certain character in the finale, that might surprise some.

Yami Gautam gives a solid performance in the lead, lending enough credibility to the duplicit nature of her role, like how she is playful with the kids and how the next instant, she puts on a chilling demeanor. It isn't a character that allows her to take a massy approach - and it won't make sense if it does - but Yami works well within that limitations. Atul Kulkarni handles each scene as a pro that he is. Both these actors very much help in lifting the film whenever needed.

A special note of mention for Karanvir Sharma who is really good as the hapless fiance caught in an emotional conundrum. As for Neha Dhupia, this is second time in the last few months that she is playing a cop tackling a hostage crisis after Sanak. Repetition apart, she is decent in a weakly written role (that managed to include her then real-life pregnancy), basically she is Jimmy Sheirgill of this movie, while Kulkarni is the Anupam Kher standin. Though there was no need to force a personal past connect between them. Blame my geeky love for some bad movies, but the climax of A Thursday recalls a certain film of Dhupia's and Sonu Sood. Again, can't name that movie for spoiler stuff.

PS: When a person is killed offscreen, there is a high possibility that he or she is not dead. Time for cinema to drop this lazy trope.

Yay!

- Yami Gautam and Atul Kulkarni

- The Pacy Nature

Nay!

- Sticks to that A Wednesday format

- The Third Act is Wildly Inconsistent

Final Thoughts

A Thursday lacks the novelty surprise of its predecessor, but it still packs some effective punches in its own way. It might not offer the best solution to the issues it tries to address and has some superficial subplots, but the movie works well as a gripping thriller and hits the right emotional notes when needed. I hope, though, that by the time 'Friday' gets its day of spotlight, the makers seek a new narrative approach in tackling the next social issue. A Thursday will stream on Disney+ Hotstar.

Rating:3.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 16, 2022 05:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).