A DARK AND TIRESOME DAY
John Day Direction: Ahishor Solomon
Actors: Naseeruddin Shah, Randeep Hooda
Rating:
I THOUGHT THAT IN THE AGE OF GOOGLE, FILMMAKERS WOULD BE RELUCTANT TO FLAT-OUT STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK. JOHN DAY PROVES ME WRONG. WITHOUT A HINT OF DISCOMFORT, DEBUTANT DIRECTOR AHISHOR SOLOMON LIFTS PLOT, SCENES AND EVEN DIALOGUE FROM THE SPANISH CRIME THRILLER BOX 507. AND THEN, HE BRAZENLY GIVES HIMSELF A WRITER CREDIT.
Box 507 is an engaging film about a mild-mannered bank manager who loses his only child in a fire. Years later, he discovers that the fire was no accident. He sets out to topple the high and mighty who caused her death. It’s an enjoyable but farfetched premise. In Solomon’s hands, the material becomes gross-out violent, cartoonish and even unintentionally funny.
Naseeruddin Shah, with hair and skin coloured a strange brownish-orange, is the manager-turned-vigilante. Randeep Hooda is a psychotic cop, chasing documents that the bank manager has. Solomon provides the cop with a backstory of sexual abuse, which turned him into a brutal killer who tells his girlfriend: Main is duniya ko kuch nahi dena chahta – na pyar, na maafi, na baccha.
Meanwhile the girlfriend, who is an alco- holic, is so desperate for a baby that she stuffs a pillow into her shirt and drunkenly cries – don’t take my baby away. At one point, a character bites someone’s tongue off. I think it’s supposed to be dark and gritty. It’s just tiresome.
Naseer sleepwalks while Randeep snarls, growls and takes long, angry drags of cigarettes. Taking a cue from Solomon, I stole a line from the late, great American critic Gene Siskel and asked myself: Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch. The answer is no. movies@hindustantimes.com