Following the core idea of Neeraj Pandey’s sleeper hit A Wednesday, the new thriller featuring Yami Gautam is another hostage drama repeating a familiar story progression and culmination. Despite the praiseworthy performance of Yami and an important social message about the questionable rape laws, A Thursday keeps struggling to make an impact lacking a fresh approach.
It also doesn’t work as a mature crime drama because of its too casual, convenient writing, even involving the Prime Minister of the country talking as a negotiator. The overdramatic acts of Atul Kulkarni and Neha Dhupia also remain the reason for its feeble impact in totality. Besides, it actually looks stale coming too late after the far superior Kannada film Act 1978 released in 2020 exploiting a similar premise. But then many might find it good enough as here we don’t have a trend of watching our Indian Regional cinema with English subtitles unless it gets released in a Hindi dubbed version.
Directed by Behzad Khambata, the film has been produced by Ronnie Screwvala (who also produced A Wednesday). Interestingly while A Thursday has a pregnant police officer Neha handling the case, in Act 1978 it’s a pregnant woman taking an entire government office as a hostage working on her vengeance plan. And both the films have their climax revealing a shocking truth of the past.
Another amazing coincidence in the film lies in its casting featuring Dimple Kapadia as the Prime Minister discussing the rape laws of the country with a victim. Ironically Dimple played the lead in a movie suggesting castration of the rapists released in the mid-80s titled Zakhmi Aurat. The film became the talk of the town with a lot of appreciation coming from the women. Sadly, even after almost four decades of the bold venture, we are still asking for stronger laws and severe punishments for the rapists making films like A Thursday.
That’s a perfect example of how thought-provoking cinema keeps reminding society and government of its seriously flawed laws and the desired rectifications.
In short, if you just wish to watch a new release with known names tackling a crucial social issue taking a lot of creative liberties, then A Thursday might serve the purpose well. But in case you wish to experience a much superior film made on an identical theme, then essentially watch Act 1978 (Kannada) available online with English Subtitles.
Mentioning a famous quote, the worth watching cinema is there to witness, simply crossing the one-inch barrier of subtitles. And in this case, it’s in one of our own Indian languages available at the online portal Amazon Prime.
Rating : 2 / 5
(Streaming at Disney Hotstar)
For friends interested in reading the review of ACT 1978 directed by Manso Re, its available at the following link:
Tags :
A THURSDAY Review by Bobby Sing at bobbytalkscinema.com, New Hindi Films Reviews by Bobby Sing, New Bollywood Movies Reviews by Bobby Sing, A Wednesday Sequel, ACT 1978 Kannada
