CAST: Rohan Vinod Mehra, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Gul Panag, Arif Zakaria
DIRECTED BY: MANISH GUPTA
BLUF
420 IPC tells the story of a chartered accountant (CA) Bansi Keswani (Pathak) whose client, Sandesh Bhosale, deputy director of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), is arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in an Rs1,200 crore flyover scam.
He is let go but implicated in the case of a stolen check offense.
While the public prosecutor (Ranvir Shorey) is hell-bent upon proving the CA guilty, young lawyer Birbal (Rohan Mehra) comes to his rescue.
THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES
CBI officers come knocking on Bansi Keswani’s door where he is questioned about Bhonsale’s arrest for siphoning off Rs 1200 crore in the Airoli Flyover Scam. Though he is let off since they don’t find anything incriminating about him, he is arrested a few days later on charges of forgery and bank fraud by another client, Sinha (Arif Zakaria), and also. Even though circumstantial evidence stacks against him, Bansi maintains he’s innocent and it’s up to his lawyer Birbal to bail him out despite strong opposition from Public Prosecutor Sewak Jamshedji (Ranvir Shorey).
IN THE KNOW
Manish Gupta who has previously directed ‘Rahasya’ and written ‘Section 375, doesn’t waste time in getting to the plot. The character arcs of each of the core roles are peeled off as the story progresses. The audience is kept guessing about the motivations, backstories in an edge-of-the-seat manner through the story making the entire movie an extremely riveting watch.
The choice of actors is phenomenal. Ranvir Shorey is perhaps the most underrated actor of our times. He brings to the character of public prosecutor Sewak Jamshedji a nuanced element that makes him stand out. He brings each element of the character to real life. Vinay Pathak is brilliant in his portrayal of Bansi Keswani. There could not have been a better character actor for this role.
Gul Panag fits the non-glam sindhi woman narrative well. The surprise of the package is however Rohan Mehra (Actor Vinod Mehra’s son) who delivers his character with great finesse. His accent, mannerism, body language are embodied magnificently in his portrayal of Birbal, the young, ambitious lawyer.
The strength of the movie is its subtlety. None of the Milord moments are stereotyped in courtroom dramas, none of the jarring music, closeups, and pans. None of the ordinary.
The writing is strongest when it presents shaded characters who have clear motivations, and their actions are clearly aligned with their rationales.420IPC makes the case.
In its extremely engrossing moments, the film tells the story of extremely intricate collusion between finance, law, and the collusion between various actors based on cultural bias, monetary motivations, and the need for relevancy.
Cinematography by Arvind Kannabiran and Raaj Chakravarti flatters Bhavani Patel’s art direction, while background score by Ranjit Barot and Som Dasgupta enhances the drama. Not a single wasted frame.
In all, a great watch for this weekend.
Don’t miss.
