A WEDNESDAY! (2008) Hindi Movie Review By Kalcha

Monday, September 8, 2008, 3:36
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A WEDNESDAY! HINDI MOVIE REVIEW BY KALCHA

Audience Rating For A WEDNESDAY!

(11 votes, average: 6.82 out of 10)

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CAST & CREW

STAR CAST: NASEERUDDIN SHAH, ANUPAM KHER, JIMMY SHERGILL, AAMIR BASHIR, DEEPAL SHAH, GAURAV KAPOOR, CHETAN PANDIT, VIRENDRA SAXENA, SNEHAL DHABI, KALI PRASAD MUKHERJEE, ROHITASH GOUD, MUKESH BHATT, RAJENDRA CHAWLA, VIJAY BHATIA, PARAG TYAGI, AYAM MEHTA, ALOK NARULA, PARTH, SEEMA MALIK
SINGERS: TOCHI, SHAAN, MAHALAKSHMI IYER & JAVED ALI
LYRICIST: IRSHAD KAMIL
MUSIC DIRECTOR: SANJOY CHOWDHARY
ART: SUNIL NIGWEKAR
STUNTS: SHYAM KAUSHAL
CINEMATOGRAPHY: FUWAD KHAN
EDITOR: SHREE NARAYAN SINGH
STORY, SCREENPLAY & DIRECTION: NEERAJ PANDEY
PRODUCER: RONNIE SCREWALA, ANJUM RIZVI & SHITAL BHATIA
BANNER: ANJUM RIZVI FILM COMPANY, UTV MOTION PICTURES & A FRIDAY FILMWORKS

SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read any further if you don’t like to know the STORY of the movie. The following review contains many spoilers.

I must be reviewing A WEDNESDAY! out of prejudice… if one is to consider the N number of reviews on the net. Generally hyperactive reviewers, who are eager to pounce on even some of the most sensibly made movies… gave this film an OVER-RATING as they seem to be really love-struck with stunning and unanticipated CLIMAX of the movie. Everyone is forgetting that a movie should be good in totality and not in flashes of brilliance. So, I feel that A Wednesday! is garnering largely undeserving applause…

INDIAN FILMDOM just looks at movies as they are… and doesn’t care about their Pedigreed Stars or some individual department’s brilliance. As I’ve asked above… Is it a Religious Compulsion to love A WEDNESDAY!?

I agree that it is a SUPERBLY WRITTEN STORY. But GREAT STORIES are seldom made into GREAT MOVIES. A WEDNESDAY! had some things going for it to make it a gripping thriller… A SUPERB STORY, A DEFINING CLIMAX and above all A COUPLE OF LEGENDARY ACTORS. So, with so many great things happening for the movie… where did it went wrong? It is the BACKGROUND MUSIC, CINEMATOGRAPHY, SCREENPLAY & DIRECTION that let the movie down big time.
Even before talking about the Background Score, lets talk about the hideously composed Soundtrack of the movie… Why the hell did the Director wanted to release this album? It can at best be understood as… to keep the tradition of Hollywood alive here too. If so, why was it not promoted at all? The whole album sounded stuck in the 90’s Bollywood… with a song being completely lifted from JAMES BLUNT.
And then coming to the Background Score… Was it even recorded in a proper studio? It sounded again from a typical 90’s Bollywood movie breathing without proper ensemble. Any thriller’s prerequisite is an impeccably composed contemporary background score… which doesn’t happen here. Most of the times, an involved Background Score can elevate some mediocre cheap thrills in to some Gripping Master Pieces.
A WEDNESDAY! is at best a 15-25 Page Script. So, it is quite an easy job to write it as coherently as possible. But surpringly, It is here that the movie falters big time. Just consider this opening remarks of ANUPAM KHER… “That Bastard… That Bastard had the guts to just walk in to our lives and blow it apart.” And then in the Climax episode in the flashback… Anupam Kher, owing to his realization and then admiration for the magnanimous job that Naseeruddin Shah’s character had done, refers him as, “Jo Bhi Tha Achcha Tha”. How foolishly he contradicts himself? Can someone please explain me that in a sensible way?
When the flashback episode starts, Naseeruddin Shah’s character places a Bag (Supposedly filled up with RDX) in the middle of the Crossing of 4-6 ways on to the platforms. Neeraj Pandey Jiii… just show me a single terrorist who is that foolish. You could have just shown him placing that bag in to a plausible corner. And further speaking on the topic, when naseer was just a Common Man as revealed much later and there are no bombs to blast other than the one for the terrorists… why did he bother to plant the bag in the railway station at all?
And then when Naseer enters in to the Police Station, a Husband files a complaint on his wife citing that she beats him for just asking her about the excess amount of salt she puts in food. How crude is that whole episode? Could have been funnier in a David Dhawan movie. But here it was just horribly written Maha-Stupid-Joke.
I agree that Jimmy Shergill gave a very good performance. But for no fault of his, he was also the most inconsistent character in the whole film. A Wednesday! was supposed to be a Hard-Hitting realistic thriller. But Jimmy was shown as a typical Bollywood hero. In one scene, a goon pisses in his pants and tells the truth just by looking at HERO Jimmy Shergill. How is this episode different in quality when compared to Singh Is Kinng’s “Urinating-On-A-Friend’s-Face” Joke.
Gotta admit that one of the best dialogues in recent times is this… Anupam Kher says to his On-A-Mission Cops… “And come over to my place in the evning, we will have a drink together”. My Hats-Off for this Dialogue.
Can anyone explain to me what is with the FANCY SETUP of Naseeruddin Shah’s Command area? Carefully considering that he is a Common Man with just about 4 Weeks of planning, wouldn’t a dungeon somewhere seem plausible? Oh! then we would have missed the spectacular view that the Director Neeraj pandey showcases.
The following aspect is the most irritating one in the whole film… Naseer’s character speaks about the Internet resources for learning about how to make a bomb from an everyday soap. But the bag found in the Police Station clearly contained RDX and also RDX was used for blasting the terrorists. How the hell did this COMMON MAN got the resources for purchasing so much of RDX? But I could be wrong here. Correct me… if RDX is really that cheap.
Late Updates: I am adding this point as a commenter was asking me… if I was biased writing this review? I hope that he understands that I am just pissed with this movie and not biased. I can’t help myself from pointing to one more flaw… What about the hacker kid that steps in to the Police Head Quarters and talks over his cell phone to his girl friend and Anupam Kher just stands there waiting for him to solve the location of the bomb planter (terrorist until then)? Should we supposed to laugh? Is this an Abbas-Mustan action movie? Well, if anyone is clapping their hands to numbness appreciating Naseer’s performance, then please rent a DVD of Khuda Ke Liye and watch him perform. KKL is one-half boring but the rest was good and Naseer excelled in it.

Well… it seems that everyone else except me was searching for a HERO in a common man… I am stuck searching for that quintessential common man and his frailties in A Wednesday!. Instead, I found a Cold-Blooded common man who munches on a sandwich, sips his Chai/Coffee while killing and toying with the Police Department. What do you call him? I don’t have an IQ of others… but I would call him a Cold-Blooded-Murderer. If you really want to watch a common man’s revolt or reaction in an extra ordinary situation… please rent a DVD of Mad City. John Travolta plays Sam Bailey, a common man, with much aplomb. I should add though that even Mad City was not a perfect movie. In the end, I would say that A WEDNESDAY! had a GREAT STORY to tell the audience… but was completely marred by a seriously heavy bunch of flaws.

KALCHA RATING

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19 Comments on “A WEDNESDAY! (2008) Hindi Movie Review By Kalcha”

S.Ganesh Kumar wrote on 8 September, 2008, 7:33
Did you watch Aamir and Mithya?
Chaitanya wrote on 8 September, 2008, 21:19
Hey Kalcha,
Where is your review of Ashta Chemma? If you dont put it up at the earliest, I would have to remind you of Black and White. (Just kidding)
Gower Ramesh wrote on 8 September, 2008, 23:27
Kalcha,

Hats Off Man, Requires some guts to be frank and honest and that too when the whole web media is raving about something. Nice part being that ur analysis is Objective and u r not different for the sake of being different
KALCHA wrote on 9 September, 2008, 7:54
Hi Gower,

Thanks for Ur kind words man… It gives me some more mileage…
varun wrote on 28 September, 2008, 23:15
@KALCHA -
hi kalcha,
i have always looked at your reviews with admiration….coz u r always frank…But u have def given a very biased review on saroja and A wednesday…If u r showin so may loopholes in A wednesday then don u think the climax of saroja was a farcical one completely…Agreed A wednesday had a lot of loopholes…The director was trying a lot to make the twist in the climax look astonishing and hence got carried away with the screenplay…But what about the reasonin in the last 20 mins…Naseeruddin shah s outbreak was brilliant…Agreed the background was bad but dont forget that this a very very low budget film…We should be happy that bollywood is making films with so much novelty
KALCHA wrote on 29 September, 2008, 1:49
@varun -

Hi… Actually, I agree to a certain extent with you. But to answer your doubt properly, I need to give U some pointers…

1. I review any movie from any genre on a single scale which is the norm world over… except in our own media of course. So, you might find a breezy and not a brainsy entertainer like “Saroja” alongside folksy political satire with a beautiful love story like “Welcome To Sajjanpur”.

2. As I said in my review… “Saroja” had a lot of bloopers towards the climax. But the thing that I liked about “Saroja” is the intention of the director. He just wanted to entertain us. And that’s what he did to the most of us. And the Tamil version had the best ending with the SriHari’s role (Jayaram) remaining completely villainy.

3. And coming to “A Wednesday!”, I heard a lot of my friends and many over chats… argue that Naseer gave his best performance ever. I wanted to laugh but just smiled at them. Why didn’t these very people found Naseer’s mind-blowing performance in “Khuda Ke Liye” noteworthy? The answer is simple… more than the performance, they liked the solution offered to them to tackle terrorism. In fact, talking in pure acting terms… Naseer’s heart was never in A Wednesday!. He just sleep walked through the role… and any legendary actor could give a small speech to make up for the lack of scope to act. Compare this to Khuda Ke Liye, where he simply performs his rituals and then when the opportunity comes, very pointedly makes it clear to everyone… what Quran says and doesn’t about certain things. Simply his best performance since Sarfarosh.

4. By the way, I didn’t mention a thousand other typical action movie scenes… like the hacker kid coming in to the Police Head Quarters and talking over a cell phone with his girlfriend… wasn’t that funny… since they had a bomb scare situation…?

5. As U were talking about intentions… its really pity… that a movie like Mumbai Meri Jaan which had the best intentions of dealing the after math of bomb blasts in real life scenarios realistically… had no takers. But when a filmmaker comes with a kill them all solution with a small speech that a school kid could have written… we stand up and cheeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrr…

I can’t say anything more…
Gower Ramesh wrote on 1 October, 2008, 10:57
Hi Kalcha,

Quite true, unlike Hollywood, where they show the problem and leave it as such,all our Movies give solutions, which trivialize the whole problem. Well done, u have pointed it out, Swades too in my opinion suffered from the same problem. Wats ur take on that movie?
varun wrote on 1 October, 2008, 23:55
dear kalcha,
What you are saying is true…When i said naseeruddins outbreak was brilliant i meant that the dialogues there were damn meaningful….i never mentioned his acting prowess in that scene….And i personally liked mumbai meri jaan a lot without any doubt…..I believe Chandrashekar Yeleti is the only person in indian cinema who writes flawless screenplays….ok i agree he got carried away in the climax of anukokunda oka roju but still i believe he is the only one who writes amazing screenplays…I dint watch the tamil version of saroja so i m not very sure if that was any reason why i hated the climax….did u watch aamir????wats ur take on that film???Coz i really believe it is a brilliant film
KALCHA wrote on 2 October, 2008, 1:43
@varun -

Its Okay dude… we are all expressing our frank opinions. All I want is that Indian Film industry in general and Telugu film industry in particular should be supported by some constructive, frank and healthy discussions so that we too can compete on a world stage.

And yeah… I watched Aamir. And it was a mind-blowing experience. Although I am a little critical about the whole premise of the movie, I have readily become a fan of RAJ KUMAR GUPTA and RAJEEV KHANDELWAL. If I were to write a review on it now… I would rate it 9/10.
Buddy wrote on 4 October, 2008, 20:11
The review of A wednesday was horrible. Mr. Kalcha you must be sinic or sick!! Dont make unjustice under the garb of frankness….
KALCHA wrote on 4 October, 2008, 23:32
@Buddy -

If U didn’t find the review to Ur taste, please write one yourself and send it to us. I would be more than happy to publish it. Indian Filmdom encourages different points of view. And coming to my review… hey Bussy… after all it was just one person’s opinion.

Chill out dude… U r welcome to write Ur own reviews here. Please send them to indianfilmdom[at]gmail.com

C U again… Kalcha
SAM wrote on 6 October, 2008, 13:00
Hi Kalcha,

I too have the same questions which you have raised, If every character in the movie have appreciated the common man’s effort for eradicating terrorism, then why he is being called as “BASTARD” and and which are the other people Anupam kher is talking about who is affected by Nasiruddin shah.

Can anyone explain me pls! or the Director?
ARBAZ wrote on 9 October, 2008, 20:22
what is the box office report of chintakayala ravi?
anurag srivastava wrote on 16 October, 2008, 22:02
Dude…i think u r too frustrated with ur life . Its always easy to scrutinise a movie retrospectively and i m pretty sure that u dont know a single thing about film making. May b u would have watched lot of movies..thats a different thing…but i think u r being too irrational in ur approach. give it a thought.
KALCHA wrote on 17 October, 2008, 5:56
Hey SAM,

Thanks man… Yeah it seems only plausible that we should question what comes to our mind and this movie certainly raises some questions.
KALCHA wrote on 17 October, 2008, 6:08
HI ANURAG SRIVASTAVA,

I don’t think I need to be frustrated with my life to scrutinise a piece of work. But if hoping so gives you a window of satisfaction… then I am not complaining.

By the way, you are absolutely correct when you say that I don’t know about film making.

Taking your advise, I gave it a thought and I stick to my review.

Thanks anyway… for hopping in. C U Often…
Asok wrote on 7 November, 2008, 14:54
HI Kalcha,

“Instead, I found a Cold-Blooded common man who munches on a sandwich, sips his Chai/Coffee while killing and toying with the Police Department. ”

That was nice presenation in the movie… Its showing that, he is doing plan coolly and comfidently. As a retaired and elder person, he is taking his food and doing the plan… if it was abt a young guy, then that wont be a right script… i dont agree with ur comments and i dont think we should compare with hollywood movie with bollywood… many guys wont like Kriss compare with spiderman movie.. i mean to say, it was a indian flavor movie with diff style.. its a nice movie i have ever seen with low cast and budget…
KALCHA wrote on 7 November, 2008, 19:01
Dear Asok,

I really liked your point of view. You present a very different picture that the director couldn’t convey. If your vision met with director’s actions, then it would have made a better product.

Thanks for coming in and sharing your views. I really appreciate thought provoking views.