Cast: Irrfan Khan, Jimmy Shergill, Tushar Dalvi, Vishesh Bansal

Director: Nishikant Kamat

Rating: 3/5

Over the last few years, Bollywood has produced many movies related to a common man and his fight against corruption, scams and government. And it’d be safe to say that most did create an impact and stir the emotions of the aam aadmi. Irrfan Khan-starrer Madaari becomes the latest project to join the exclusive list. This film, directed by Nishikant Kamat, points at the dirtiest side of our political system, the consequence of which is unfortunately beared by a common man on a daily basis.

The movie is a tale of a single father, common man Nirmal Kumar (Irrfan) who loses his son in a tragic incident, a bridge collapse, which happens due to corruption in the system. In an attempt to seek justice for his loss, Nirmal skilfully kidnaps the son of the country’s home minister (Tushar Dalvi). To track their whereabouts, the government officials ask for Nachiket’s (Jimmy Shergill) assistance. The team’s pursuit of Nirmal and the protagonist’s resort to a frantic measure in order to be heard captures the essence of the rest of the movie.

Some instances such as Nirmal’s preparations and technical skills are very meaningful and well-written. Irrfan flawlessly depicts every emotion of a troubled father through the character. His eyes convey the pain and frustration, while the voice shows courage and hope. Throughout the film, he makes sure the audience shares the grief as he effortlessly conveys the message with a lot of pain. The scene in which he reacts on knowing his child’s death is heart-wrenching. The yearning for his beloved can be felt in his expressions.

Vishal Bansal’s role as Home Minister’s son (Rohan) is convincing.  He comes across as a mature and experienced child artist. As the bond grows stronger between Nirmal and Rohan, the movie becomes interesting to watch. The duo shares a loveable chemistry throughout the film, especially in the second half.

Tushar Dalvi as the Home Minister and Jimmy Shergill as the Investigating officer are just about okay. The actors neither bring anything new to the character nor let the charm created in the early hours of the movie fade away.

The effect of social media, perceptions, influence, power, etc is also effortlessly incorporated in the movie with few impactful dialogues placed at appropriate moments and concepts which make one relate. In parts, Madaari reminds us of the popular 2008 film, A Wednesday. While the old film did manage to keep us hooked till the end without feeling the slug, the pace at which writer Ritesh Shah has written Madaari is too slow.

The pace of the second half of the movie makes up for the lack of it during the first half. Lately, directors and writers have broaden the horizons of story-telling related to issues revolving around social causes and corruption, and while most did hit the bull’s eye, Kamat fell short of achieving the same. Overall, Madaari is watchable, but in parts.