Netflix and Maddock Films’ Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga is a thriller. Ankit Sethi (Sunny Kaushal) falls in love with airhostess Neha Grover (Yami Gautam Dhar). She is shocked to learn that Ankit is being harassed by some people to steal diamonds for making good the losses he had, in a way, been responsible for. It is too late for Neha to get out of this relationship because she loves Ankit and also because she is pregnant with his baby. When Neha realises that the only way for Ankit to get out of the mess is to, in fact, steal the diamonds, she becomes a part of his game plan. The diamonds have to be stolen mid-air as they are being carried by the courier guy from one place to another on the flight on which Ankit is a co-passenger and Neha, a cabin crew member. Unfortunately, the plane is hijacked and all the plans, made by Ankit, go awry. What happens finally?
Siraj Ahmed and Amar Kaushik have written a story and screenplay (with additional screenplay by Trishant Srivastava) which are engaging even though they may not be as convincing as one would’ve liked them to be. For one, the public has seen the hijack film, Neerja, and loved it so much that any hijack film that doesn’t match up to it is bound to be compared a bit negatively with it. In particular, the hijacking part is not as serious and convincing as it should’ve been to inspire people’s confidence in it and to give the viewers edge-of-the-seat thrill. However, the saving grace is that since the crux of the drama is theft of diamonds and not the hijack, the lesser writing of the hijacking portion is not as worrisome as it could’ve been otherwise. The revelation of the suspense is quite exciting and comes as an entertaining twist in the tale and a shock because the audience never thinks on the course which the drama takes. Investigation officer Shaikh’s (Sharad Kelkar) probe keeps the viewers completely hooked. Another plus point is that the pace of the drama is so fast that it doesn’t give the audience time to think. Dialogues, written by Siraj Ahmed and Amar Kaushik, with additional dialogues by Trishant Srivastava, are very interesting.
Yami Gautam Dhar does a lovely job as airhostess Neha who colludes with Ankit to save his life from the goons. The good part about her performance is that even if one watches the film in repeat, one will not be able to pick out any giveaways in her performance. Sunny Kaushal is convincing as Ankit and acts very well. Even his suspense track comes as a shock to the viewers. Sharad Kelkar stands out with a sterling performance post-interval in the role of investigation officer Shaikh, his late entry into the drama notwithstanding. Indraneil Sengupta lends decent support as Sudhanshu Roy. Barun Chanda is convincing as minister Sanyal. Krunal Pandit lends fair support as Bhagat. Kamaal Malik is quite good as flight marshal Bhanu Yadav. Ajeet Singh Palwat (as Zaheer/Nikki Ahuja), Sunil Paliwal (as Azhar/Jinu Varghese) and Ghanshyam Lalsa (as Irfan/Abbas Ansari) lend good support as the three hijackers. Robin Das (as Gaffar Siddiqui), Aru Verma (as Manmeet), Priyanka Karunakaran (as airhostess Vinita Mathew), Vishal Omprakash (as inspector Trilok who assists investigation officer Shaikh), Manish Sharma (as the CISF officer), Purnendu Bhattacharya (as the pilot), Vinod Johari (as the co-pilot), Alok Nath (as the diamond courier man), Narendra Khatri (as the diamond expert), Archana and Suhana Mudavir (both as air hostesses), Abhay Jha (as the police inspector in the aeroplane) and the others provide the desired support.
Ajay Singh’s direction is fairly good. Vishal Mishra’s music and lyrics are functional. Ketan Sodha’s background music is impactful without being too imposing. Gianni Giannelli’s camerawork is very good. Manohar Verma’s action and stunts are natural. Mayur Sharma’s production designing and Sabyasachi Misra’s art direction are appropriate. Charu Thakkar’s editing is quite sharp.
On the whole, Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga is quite an enetrtaining fare for home viewing. It is good that the film has been premiered on OTT as it could not have worked well in cinemas.
Released on 24-3-’23 on Netflix.