Krian Pictures’ 7 Hours To Go! (UA) is a thriller.
Arjun Ranawat (Shiv Pandit) holds seven people hostage in the court premises, demanding the arrest of his girlfriend’s murderers. His girlfriend, Maya (Natasa Stankovic), is murdered right in front of his eyes because she is to depose in court against influential and top businessman Kabeer Khemka (Rohit Vir). Arjun gives the police seven hours’ time and demands that accomplished police inspector Shukla-ji (Sandeepa Dhar) be asked to handle the case. ACP Ramesh Dhadke (Varun Badola) has no option but to call Shukla-ji to take charge of the case.
Shukla-ji soon realises that Arjun’s girlfriend, Maya (Anjalie Gupta), had been murdered earlier in a court in Muzaffarnagar in much the same way as the present Maya has been killed. If the earlier Maya was Arjun’s girlfriend, who is the present Maya? Is she fake?
Does Shukla-ji solve the case? Who is Arjun Ranawat and is there something else he wants?
Saurabh Varma has penned a childish story. Although the film is a thriller, the screenplay is so weak that no part of the drama offers thrills. To make matters worse, the pace of the film is so slow that even the semblance of a thriller goes out of the window. The laidback attitude of ACP Ramesh Dhadke, meant to entertain the audience and tickle their funny bone, actually irritates them. Even otherwise, the comedy is pathetic. As for the police, they often behave like fools crumbling under pressure rather than as intelligent officers. In other words, Saurabh Varma’s screenplay is no better than his story.
Since the drama moves on a single track, it becomes monotonous quite early on. The revelation of a suspense angle in the end is so half-baked that the viewer is not even surprised. All in all, the story and the screenplay are terribly weak. Saurabh Varma’s dialogues are dull.
Before one talks of individual performances, a word about the casting. Generally speaking, the film looks like a classic case of miscasting with almost all important actors miscast. Shiv Pandit is not able to carry the weight of the character of Arjun Ranawat on his shoulders. It doesn’t look believable that he can hold seven persons hostage in the court premises. His acting is so-so. Sandeepa Dhar does not look like the firebrand police officer she plays. Her performance lacks fire. Varun Badola is earnest but his attempt at comedy falls flat on its face due to the poor scripting. Natasa Stankovic is okay as Natasha Sharma alias fake Maya. Kettan Singh’s comedy is silly, to say the least. As Amol Palekar, he is unable to impress. Rohit Vir is hardly effective as Kabeer Khemka. Vipin Sharma, Santosh S. Darne (as television reporter Kiran More), Himanshu Malik (as Tamim Chakri), Anjalie Gupta (as Maya), Sunil Pala (as Lal), Aakash Dabhade (as Ghorpade), Pankaj Vishnu (as police inspector Joshi), Naveen Prabhakar (as informer Ranglani), Harsh Singh (as Kabeer Khemka’s secretary), Archana Dwivedi (as Seema Sharma) and the rest provide ordinary support.
Saurabh Varma’s direction leaves something to be desired. He has failed to give the narrative the pep and pace needed in a thriller. Music (Sugat Dhanvijay, Shubham Sundaram and Hanif Shaikh) is okay. The ‘Mahinder dance’ song is the better of the lot. Lyrics (Shraddha Bhilave, Sugat Dhanvijay and Manoj Yadav) are ordinary. Choreography (Jasmin Oza) is alright. Manan Munjal’s background score is below the mark. Milind Jog’s cinematography is ordinary. Action scenes (Javed-Aejaz) lack thrill. Nitin’s editing is loose.
On the whole, 7 Hours To Go! is so dull that it will go almost completely unnoticed.