Suraj Productions, JDS Enterprises and 4V Entertainment’s Ghuspaithiya (UA) is the story of how social media can be misused by unscrupulous elements to harass people by infiltrating into their lives and playing havoc thereafter.
Ravi Rana (Vineet Kumar Singh) works for the police force and is chosen by his senior, inspector general Santosh Tyagi (Govind Namdeo), to tap phones of some VIPs. While discharging his duties, Ravi also taps the phone of his wife, Abha (Urvashi Rautela). He is shocked to hear conversations between Abha and her Facebook friend, Anshuman (Akshay Oberoi). As he eavesdrops on more conversations, he realises that Anshuman is blackmailing her. While pretending in front of his wife that he knows nothing about Anshuman and her relationship, Ravi tries to teach Anshuman the lesson of his lifetime. On her part, Abha also tries very hard to not let Ravi know about Anshuman and how he has been stalking her and harassing her sexually and otherwise. Anshuman is a technical wizard and hacks Ravi’s computer where all the data of his phone tapping episodes is stored. Who wins in this battle of nerves and more?
Susi Ganeshan has written a story and screenplay, both of which are quite novel. However, the film’s title is a bit of a misnomer because the drama is not about infiltrators in the country but rather in the personal space of gullible ladies. In that sense, although the title prepares the viewers for a film about infiltration in India, it actually turns out to be a drama in the personal space of individuals. Also, the drama loses its importance in the minds of the viewers quite a bit since it deals with a micro problem while raising hopes of a macro problem. The solution to the problem appears to be hurried and, if one may say so, implausible for many even though the problem is shown to be of the kind which can strike in anybody’s life if he/she is lax. Since the drama speaks about social media and stalking on social media, it will not be understood universally. Dialogues (by Tariq Mohamed and Navin Prakash) are quite nice.
Vineet Kumar Singh does fairly well as Ravi Rana but he is not in his element as the role doesn’t suit him too well. Urvashi Rautela is average as Abha. Akshay Oberoi steals the show with a wonderful performance as Anshuman. He makes his character immensely repulsive with his cool demeanour and stylish acting. Govind Namdeo is okay as IG Santosh Tyagi. Umesh Shukla is alright as Shamboonath. Prabhat Kumar Lahiri is adequate as Motabhai. Susi Ganeshan is okay as DIG Ajay Yadav. Seetha makes her mark as Ravi Rana’s mother. Rangaraj Pandey has his moments as the detective. Mahesh Dubey makes his presence felt as IG Vijay Singh. Honey Mohandas (as Madhuri), Atishri Shikha Singh and Firdous Khan (both as assistants of the detective), Avnish Yadav (as constable Suraj), Arvind Tiwari (as the mantri), Rifakat Ali as the relative of the mantri), Shiv Aryan (as Aman), Viswa Karna (as Raju), Rochit (as Rakesh), Manish Mishra (as Ravi Rana’s father), Rahat Sheikh (as criminal-cum-politician Mangal Yadav), Yogesh Tirupati (as Begumjaan’s husband), Saurabh Singh Katihar (as the nodal officer) and the others lend the desired support.
Susi Ganeshan’s direction is fair but it does confuse viewers at places. Akshay Menon and Sourabh Singh Senger’s music is okay. Lyrics (Saaveri Verma, Parry G., Taranginee Menon and Shubhashish Upadhyay) are alright. Dhananijya’s choreography is functional. Sageesh Bhandari, Arjun Bhaybhang and Sanjoy Chowdhury’s background music is reasonably impactful. Sethu Sriram’s cinematography is nice. Action and stunt scenes (by Stunt Siva and Nishant Abdul Khan) are exciting and thrilling. Art direction (by Ratan Suryawanshi and Muralidhar J. Sabat) is of a fair standard. Ram-Sathiesh’s editing should’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Ghuspaithiya is an ordinary fare which will prove to be a non-starter.
Released on 9-8-’24 at Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity & opening: below the mark. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull everywhere.