Subedaar Review: Anil Kapoor, Aditya Rawal, Mona Singh In Gritty Sand Mafia Drama |
Title: Subedaar Director: Suresh TriveniCast: Anil Kapoor, Radhikka Madan, Aditya Rawal, Mona Singh, Saurabh ShuklaWhere: Prime Video
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Subedaar is about a retired soldier struggling to adapt to the everyday corruption which civilians have to face, a fractured relationship with his daughter, and the sand mafia who threaten his very existence. The movie begins with the tragic death of a boy — the 15th such incident in a year — because of projects being carried out by the sand mafia.Actors’ PerformancesAnil Kapoor is Subedaar Arjun Maurya, the gruff retired army man who is a stickler for the rules. Whether it is discarding a stray lemon lying in the middle of the road to fully follow Swachh Bharat, not starting a car till his co-passenger has strapped in their seat belt, or stopping the car to not break a signal, even if he is literally the only vehicle following that rule in the middle of the road. He is also probably the only person who will blow the horn when there is a completely empty road in front of him, just as a signal to his co-passenger that he wants them to shut up.I first saw Aditya Rawal in Daldal, playing a helpless drug addict, and it came as a pleasant surprise that in Subedaar he gets to play the main villain. Aditya is spot on as Prince, the spoilt, ill-mannered, devious kid of a politician for whom “no” is never an answer. Shooting someone at point-blank range because he stands between his grand birthday celebrations is commonplace. It would be natural progression if he now starts getting offered roles of a similar but interesting nature, just like his father Paresh Rawal was during the 80s. What is a welcome relief, however, is that we know Aditya because of his acting chops and not because he is plastered all over our social media pages in paparazzi photos. Radhikka Madan is the fiery college student who exposes one of her classmates who sends her obscene videos. I remember watching her exceptional performance in the series Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo, and here she embodies the character of an earthy, fighter individual who gets knocked down but literally scrapes her way back, clawing to survive. In his stint in civilian life, people keep testing his patience and way beyond in various ways. Whether it is the sarkari daftar which keeps telling him to fill in the same report repeatedly or the politician’s evil son who is basically the worst boss one can dream of having — until all limits are crossed one day and Anil Kapoor transforms into Denzel Washington from The Equalizer and unleashes fury on whichever idiot has crossed his path. Him as a retired army man facing problems with the same people he protected while he was at the border is reminiscent of the Nana Patekar movie Prahaar (1991).The movie also shows us one instance where it tries to portray that no matter how anguished, how rightful your cause might be in your anger, you might also misunderstand a particular situation and take out your anger on the wrong person. And those mistakes are also made by people who are completely justified, completely honest, completely law-abiding, completely in the right. That is an important lesson, I feel, which the director and the scriptwriter try to get through to us, and in turn end up affecting your relationship with the one person whom you love the most — be it your wife, father, mother, partner, daughter, son — whoever.
Mona Singh is Babli didi, a powerful sand mafia gang leader. Rather than analyse how she’s played the role, I would rather talk about the almost strategic way in which she has portrayed two diverse characters in her career — in stark contrast to what we have known her for. First, of course, in Kohrra 2 as the upright officer with a complicated family life, and now this. The one dialogue of Mona Singh, of course, for which the scriptwriter needs to be congratulated is when she tells Anil Kapoor, “Ye muchhe hamari kamzori hai.”Saurabh Shukla is Kapoor’s friend, and if I have to analyse his acting, then it would be tauheen for someone like him and his stature. Khushbu Sundar is perfect as Arjun’s wife, while Faisal Malik as Softy Bhaiya is a name you can’t really forget.MusicThe music in this film is an important part of the story and adds layers to it. This definitely applies to tracks such as Lalla, Chilam Tambaku, and the Subedaar theme.FPJ VerdictAll in all, in Subedaar, director Suresh Triveni has given Anil Kapoor the OTT role that combines the justice of a one-man Nayak with the intensity of an Equalizer. Definitely watch this one.