Maddock Films and Jio Studios’ Sector 36 is a thriller. Young girls and boys from poor households keep disappearing one after another from a settlement in Sector 36 in Delhi. Ram Charan Pandey (Deepak Dobriyal), a determined police officer, comes face to face with the cold-blooded serial killer, Prem (Vikrant Massey), who reveals some sordid details of the murders. It is clear that a rapist is also involved. Of course, the rapist has all the connections at the right places. So will Pandey succeed in his mission to unearth the complete mystery?
Bodhayan Roychaudhury has written a shocking tale of rape and murder, inspired by true events. His screenplay is so stark that it shocks the viewers even though one has read about most of the incidents, modus operandi adopted, etc. The complete connivance of the police machinery is so loud and clear that it makes the audience wonder if this could be for real. The best part about the screenplay is that it doesn’t let the viewers’ attention decrease at any time. The turns and twists in the drama are so many that the audience remains involved and engrossed. The climax shakes the viewers! Bodhayan Roychaudhury’s dialogues are terrific and add greatly to the impact of the drama.
Vikrant Massey is extraordinary as Prem. He is so natural that his cold-bloodedness appears frightening at times. The police station sequence, in which he gives a complete account of what he did, leaves the audience spell-bound, so brilliant is his performance in it. Deepak Dobriyal does cent per cent justice to the character of sub-inspector Ram Charan Pandey. He gives his all to the role and comes out trumps. Darshan Jariwala lends extraordinary support as DCP Rastogi. Akash Khurana lives the role of Balbir Singh Bassi. Baharul Islam shines as Bhupen Saikia. Mahadev S. Lakhawat (as constable Bishnoi) and Ajeet S. Palawat (as constable Pathak) lend tremendous support. Kacho Ahmed makes his mark as the compounder. Subir Biswas makes his presence wonderfully felt in the role of Harisadhan Ghosh. Ipshita Chakraborty Singh (or Ipshita Palawat as Sangeeta, wife of police sub-inspector Ram Charan Pandey) is natural to the core. Arindol Bagchi is good as Sabyasachi Mandal. Varun Bhiletia (as Ali), Raghav Kalra (as young Prem), Tanushree Das (as Chumki), Trimala Adhikari (as Jyoti) and Fareed Ahmad (as Prem’s uncle) provide lovely support. Raj Singh Rawat (as Ali’s father), Vijay Wanchoo (as Mithilesh), Hardeep Kaur (as Mrs. Saikia), Deepti Kumar (as Mrs. Trehan), Monu Khatri (as Rajbir), Pritisha Srivastava (as Samreen), Sachin Lakra (as Yogesh), Sehra Gurdeep Singh (as commissioner of police) and the others are adequate.
Aditya Nimbalkar’s direction is wonderful. His narration is in keeping with the mood of the drama and he doesn’t shy away from exhibiting the starkness, thereby heightening the impact. Music (Oaff & Savera, Dhunkey, Gourov Dasgupta and Kanishk Seth) is appropriate. Lyrics (Sameer Rahat, Dhunkey, Farhan Memon and Yashwardhan Goswami) are in synch with the drama. Ketan Sodha’s background music is superb. Saurabh Goswami does a swell job of the cinematography. Harpal Singh’s action and stunt scenes are raw and impactful. Production designing (by Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray) is fantastic. Sreekar Prasad’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Sector 36 is a shocking drama which shakes the viewers. It will find appreciation.
Released on 13-9-’24 on Netflix.