Anupam Kher in A Wednesday

Two weeks ago cinema-buffs were treated to MUMBAI MERI JAAN (oddly enough it’s not a comedy, no matter what Mohd Rafi and Johnny Walker say), which followed the lives of five strangers after the July 11th train bombings in 2006. This week we have a special type of cocktail, A WEDNESDAY (the underlying theme is in reference to the bombings as well); it keeps you hooked throughout and throws in thought provoking messages.

First time director Neeraj Pandey took the typical Hollywood idea of a “cat and mouse” game and strengthened it by throwing in some Naseruddin, sprinkling a bit of Jimmy Shergill and topping it off with the composed under pressure cop Anupam Kher. It’s 100 minutes of pure entertainment (unfortunately no masala or club songs…I know I was disappointed too)!

Jimmy Shergill in A Wednesday

Even beyond the message of A WEDNESDAY, what makes this film special are the prolific performances from the leading men Naseruddin Shah and Anupam Kher. A bushy white haired Everyday Man (Naseruddin Shah) who almost forgets his bag of tomatoes, but doesn’t forget to blow up Mumbai. Versus the strong-willed and persistent police commissioner (Anupam Kher) accompanied by his yin and yang protégés, hard-nosed no hold bar Arif Khan (Jimmy Shergill) and the righteous family loving Jai Pratap Singh (Aamir Bashir).

A WEDNESDAY is indeed a social film but does not focus on the government or the institution as the main villain, but rather the individuals or groups trying to “fight for their cause”…represented here by the terrorists. A similar concept was deployed in AAMIR, released earlier this summer, where one individual was exposed to unfair situations and ultimately did what he felt was the right thing.

Naseeruddin Shah in A Wednesday

The basic idea of one individual standing up and trying to empower the common person was also seen in the western movie V FOR VENDETTA, but there are no straight scene-to-scene lifts. Again where V FOR VENDETTA focuses on destroying the establishment, Neeraj Pandey tackles the groups responsible for such real life events.

Without giving any more insight into A WEDNESDAY the only thing left to say is, go watch it! There are no songs to fast forward, no mushy love stories and no Matrix wannabe special effects. All you have is a great script, acting that’s convincing (boy you don’t hear much of that in Bollywood) and a powerful message!

Stars: 5 out of 5

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