Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Neena Gupta, Svar Kamble, Sakshi Tanvar
Directed by Rensil D’Silva
BLUF:
An unhinged mother, Seema (Neena Gupta), is out to seek vengeance for the death of his son at the hands of a drug peddler. The culprit is Dhruv (Svar Kamble), the son of a cop called Nikhil Sood (Manoj Bajpayee) who runs the Police Control Room for emergency calls.
The story revolves around Seema’s mission to bring the culprits to task using Nikhil and his family. The thriller that emanates from this mission is the story we see unfold.
MEAT AND THE POTATOES
Rensil D’Silva is normally a reliable writer. He directs Dial 100, where the cop must stop a tragic incident from occurring without leaving his Police Control Room. The uncomplicated story is sans thrilling crescendos.
As the story itself is skinny so it rides on the coattails of a captivating narrative and hooks of the tense moments. We felt that the narrative was slow to degenerate the entire effect of the thriller and did not fully capitalize upon the portrayal of the thriller.
The revenge element chronicled by Neena Gupta’s character ends before it could register with the audience. We felt it could have been enhanced by better writing since we don’t totally buy her reasons enough to be anxious about it. For this reason, maybe
Manoj Bajpayee is the star of the movie and it is his riveting performance that keeps us glued to the screen throughout the 1:30 hours.
FWAR:
Manoj Bajpayee presents another master class in acting.
He is a treat to watch in every frame as he plays the character of Nikhil Sood. He makes ordinary scenes stand out. It will not be amiss to say that he is the finest when the story rests completely on his performance and he saves this movie with his brilliance on screen.
Sakshi Tanwar as a housewife is consistent. Her scenes with Manoj Bajpayee are well portrayed.
Neena Gupta , in her meaty role, could have been more effective had the writing not failed her.
The background score is reasonably okay. The movie uses limited sets but the space is used well. The writing lets the brilliant actors down. A lot of conversations are fairly routine and evoke a sense of usuratonkachi.
WHAT WE LOVED
Manoj. Manoj. Manoj
WHAT WE MISSED
Slow start and waste of 30 minutes
Edge of the seat thrills
Writing ☹
