Irada movie review: Irada is good, but execution is poor

Cast: Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah, Divya Dutta
Director: Aparnaa Singh

 

There are films that are well-intentioned and would make riveting stories too, but mainstream Bollywood rarely comes up with relevant themes that would arouse our interest. Debutant director Aparnaa Singh’s Irada is one such release that has all the factual details in place, and even has some great performers sinking their teeth into pivotal roles. But does that constitute a great work of art too? Wish we had a winner on our hands, more so, since there are no big releases this week. Instead, what Singh has put out for us are accurately correct events from not too distant past that have almost been blurred by the media, or forgotten.

Punjab has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. But the state, as we all know it, as the bedrock of the Punjabi community’s rich traditions. And underneath the façade of the best practices that define the land of five rivers, lie the underbelly that the authorities may continue to live in denial about — be it the menace of drugs or the contaminated water that resulted in making Punjab dishonourable. Thus, when a mysterious bomb blast in a  tycoon’s factory shakes the city of Bhatinda, it prompts the state chief minister Ramandeep Braitch (Divya Dutta) to hire an NIA officer Arjun Mishra (Arshad Warsi) to solve the mystery. In the same breath, she makes it clear to him that he need not put his heart and soul into the investigation, and that he should do as much as he gets “instructed” to. He, of course, is a conscientious law-abiding officer who would take no nonsense from anyone.

With its heart in the right place, Irada would have been a very important film ever made in recent years. Which Hindi film has ever talked about the perils of chemical contamination, that too in its main theme? None, for sure. But amateur handling of such an important subject lets even actors of the calibre of Shah and Dutta, start overplaying, particularly, Dutta. The script too lets us down. The unflagging inspiration beyond a point looks simplistic. In trying to project the harsh realities of Punjab, writers fail miserably to get to the point. The investigation itself looks hollow, and at times, not in sync with the largely authentic subject of the film. It’s not just the lousy handling it’s unnecessary performance-oriented sheen that falls flat. There was obviously a story here, but Irada doesn’t make it compelling, as it lacks focus and energy, not to mention a character like Paddy, the chief villain, which is facile and thin.

Irada, thus, in a certain light, attempts to experimentally answer the question, what does it mean to be a whistleblower? And how does one depict such a huge threat to mankind that results in greed and manmade tragedies befalling human beings? Warsi seems to be enjoying himself thoroughly as we find one of the greater threads coursing through the tale that changes the expectation of the audience. It’s Kelkar’s typical Bambaiyya tone — more in the way his role has been written — that strikes a false note. There’s little else to drive a bit of box office, not much heft, or mellow treatment and control.

The writer is a film critic and has been reviewing films for over 15 years. He also writes on music, art and culture, and other human interest stories.