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T-Series Films and Benaras Mediaworks’ Anek (UA) is a film about the politics which has made North East Indians feel like outsiders in their own country. Although it appears that the government wants to treat them as equal Indians, the fact is that probably, nobody is interested in really including them in the mainstream, and the government at the Centre is also not doing enough for them.
The story is about an undercover cop, Aman (Ayushmann Khurrana), who has been assigned the job, by the government of India, of facilitating the peace process between the Centre and North East India, even if that means only signing a peace treaty. Aman, who introduces himself as Joshua when he reaches the strife-torn region, befriends Aido (Andrea Kevichüsa) who is struggling to represent India in international boxing but does not get the push because of her North East Indian origin. Her father, Wangnao (Mipham Otsal), runs a school which also prepares students to revolt against strife and fight for their region. Effectively, both, father and daughter, love their region (although the North East comprises several states, there is no mention of any single or several or all states), but they are pained that the region and its people are not treated as Indians. There is Tiger Sanga (Loitongbam Dorendra Singh) who virtually controls the region and who also runs a number of illegal businesses. The government of India wants to sign a peace treaty with Tiger. However, there is another very powerful person, Johnson, in the region and he is assumed to be the main militant who often wreaks havoc on the people of North East India. The armed forces of India also regularly attack the inhabitants of the region, killing them and burning their houses.
Anubhav Sinha’s story tackles an aspect which has never been the subject matter of a Hindi film. However, the novelty factor notwithstanding, the story is so confusing that the audience often struggles to comprehend what’s going on and who is fighting whom. The political drama becomes so overpowering that the human drama takes a complete backseat. Screenplay writers Anubhav Sinha, Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani and script consultant Anjum Rajabali have not been able to write a very comprehensible screenplay. The drama is so confusing that it ends up testing the audience’s patience. Frankly, it is often not clear who is attacking whom and why. The viewers also do not quite know whether they should cheer or despair when a young civilian, instead of studying in school or helping his mother run the household, joins the militants in the region. Resultantly, the audience feels no empathy for those murdered in the strife-torn region. To add to the viewers’ tale of woes is the fact that many characters in the film converse in their local language. Although this makes the entire drama appear authentic, this very authenticity robs the film of its emotional quotient because it becomes difficult for the audience to understand the conversation. Of course, those dialogues are complemented by subtitles but the Hindi subtitling job itself is shoddy as more often than not, it is difficult to read the subtitles in their entirety. Believe it or not but a simple thing like the name of the character played by the main protagonist (Ayushmann Khurrana) dawns upon the viewers quite late in the day. And mind you, he has not one but two names!!
The romantic track between Aman and Aido, if there is one, is underdeveloped. The emotional track of Aido and her father, Wangnao, fails to touch the heart. Likewise, the emotions when innocent people of the region are mercilessly killed or their houses are burnt just don’t move the audience. Why, even Emma’s (Sheila Devi) breakdown in front of Aman/Joshua, when she loses her son in a gun battle, leaves the audiences indifferent because they simply do not ever feel like they are a part of the drama. The climax (about Aido) hardly serves to swell the viewer’s heart with pride. The other part of the climax, when Aman confronts Abrar (Manoj Pahwa) with uncomfortable questions, is definitely very good but it’s too late by then. The large mass base will have lost interest in the drama by the time the climax unfolds on the screen. In other words, except for the very very politically-inclined among the high gentry audience, the others will lose their patience while watching the film as they will find the story and screenplay too boring and often incomprehensible in totality. Anubhav Sinha’s dialogues are good at places but there are so many dialogues in non-Hindi that they end up irritating the viewers.
Ayushmann Khurrana does a fine job as Aman/Joshua. He suits the character of the undercover cop and performs very well. However, he, like all the other actors, is let down by a script which has very limited appeal. Andrea Kevichüsa is fair as Aido. Manoj Pahwa is in form in the role of Abrar. Kumud Mishra gets limited scope but is effective. Loitongbam Dorendra Singh does an average job as Tiger Sanga. J.D. Chekravarthy is natural but so-so in a role that hardly offers him scope. Mipham Otsal is ordinary as Wangnao. Jatin Goswami is impressive as Major Veer. Rajendra Sethi leaves a mark. Sushil Pandey (as Aman’s friend-cum-driver Sampat) lends fair support. Thejasevor Belho (as Niko), Sheila Devi (as Emma), Rajib Pro (as Johnson), Anup Hazarika (as Neil), Lanuakum Ao (as militant Horen whose group Niko joins), Joyi (as Doko), Sonam Stobgais (as Thomas), Meenakshi (as Gopa), Shweta (as Lovina), Hage D. Appa (as John Longkumar) and the rest pass muster.
Anubhav Sinha’s direction seems to cater to a very thin section of the elite audience only. He falters on two main counts: the narration is confusing, and the human drama fails to touch the heart. Anurag Saikia’s music goes with the film’s mood but the songs don’t add much to the drama. Lyrics (Shakeel Azmi, Basharat Peer, Jonathan Lemtur and Anubhav Sinha) are okay. Mangesh Dhakde’s background music is ordinary. Ewan Mulligan’s camerawork is good. Stunts and action scenes (Stefan Richter and Riyaz-Habib) are alright. Nikhil Kovale’s production designing and Ashish Naik’s art direction are quite nice. Yasha Jaidev Ramchandani’s editing should’ve been crisper.
On the whole, Anek will find very few takers even among the class audience and will, therefore, flop at the turnstiles.
Released on 27-5-’22 at Inox (daily 6 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: good. Opening: below the mark. …….Also released all over. Opening was very dull everywhere.