The Movie Review – A Wednesday
September 16, 2008
Star rating: 
Movie name: A Wednesday
Actors: Nasseruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Aamir Bashir, Deepal Shaw
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Anjum Rizvi & Shital Bhatia
Music Director: Sanjoy Chowdhary
Writer: Neeraj Pandey
“A Wednesday” is a rare variety of film that is made once in many years and takes the closest brush with reality. The film is certainly not about the train blasts that ripped through Mumbai in 2005. It is also not about terrorism and counter-terrorism, more appropriately the movie is about making these inexorable socio political facts into an assimilate and absorbing cinema.
Directed by debutant Neeraj Pandey, the movie depicts extremism in a completely new light and probably that is where, according to me, it scores high above others like “Mumbai Meri Jaan.” The director turns the ugly reality of terrorism into a hide and seek game being played between Nasseruddin Shah and a veteran cop Anupam Kher.
Right from the beginning the movie takes the course of a gripping action thriller compelling the audience to be perpetually at the edge of their seats. It all starts with an anonymous call from a character played by Shah, to the Commissioner of Police Rathod (Anupam Kher). The former warns the latter of six bombs planted in various parts of the city of Mumbai. He also threatens to detonate them, if, his demands of freeing four hard core anti-national terrorists are not met.
“A Wednesday” is different from a conventional Bollywood flick, where the hero takes on the evils and perils single handedly. I thought that the infinitesimal specification integrated in the script adds conviction to the trade-off that sets the film a class apart. Apart from powerful acting from the best and most experienced actors of the industry, Neeraj Pandey’s well-etched screenplay adopts aphoristic character introductions, credible buildup, an amazing pre-climax and finally a great ending. As a debutant, his hold and grasp of the script is just amazing. There is no doubt that Pandey is extremely talented and here to stay in the industry. As far as acting is concerned, apart from the two acting jargons, I really admired Jimmy Shergill and Amir Bashir in their roles as fellow police officers. Deepal Shaw also impresses as a TV news reporter. Further, the music of the movie was truly heart rendering.Over all, I feel that the movie is good and a welcome break into the world of reality. Watch it to know the difference yourself.
