Zee Studios, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and Sahyadri Films’ Yek Number (Marathi; UA) is the story of a young man who, in a bid to prove himself to the girl he loves, gets embroiled in a criminal case.
Pratap (Dhairya Gholap) works for the local MLA. He loves Pinky (Sayali Patil) but she doesn’t reciprocate his love. Pinky hero-worships politician Raj Thackeray and tells Pratap that she would marry him if he brought Raj Thackeray to their village. For this, Pratap goes to Bombay where he meets Duplicate (Rajesh Khera) who impersonates Raj Thackeray in the politician’s road shows to raise awareness on important social and other issues. But soon, Pratap realises that Duplicate is a Pakistani terrorist, Afzal Hamid, who has come to India to kill Raj Thackeray. To succeed in his mission, Afzal Hamid had gotten close to Raj Thackeray’s group. Pratap then foils Afzal Hamid’s sinister plan and eliminates him. Finally, Pinky agrees to marry Pratap. Soon thereafter, Raj Thackeray telephones Pratap to inform him that he’d be visiting their village.
Tejaswini Pandit and Dhairya Gholap have written a story which is too round-and-about. The screenplay, penned by Tejaswini Pandit, Dhairya Gholap, Vinayak Purshottam, Mayuresh Joshi and Arvind Jagtap, has some engaging portions but the overall impact is less than what it ought to have been. Pratap accidentally becomes a hero; it is not as if he tries to do anything heroic. Therefore, the climax is not exhilarating enough. Arvind Jagtap and Vinayak Purshottam’s dialogues are okay.
Dhairya Gholap makes an impressive debut as Pratap. He looks alright, acts well and dances fairly gracefully. Sayali Patil looks nice and her acting in her debut role as Pinky is okay. Tejaswini Pandit lends good support as police inspector Thorat. Rajesh Khera impresses as Duplicate and is average as terrorist Afzal Hamid. Nilesh Diwekar makes his presence felt as Sawant. Malaika Arora and Siddharth Jadhav lend star value in a song-dance number. Varsha Dandle (as Pratap’s mother), Anand Ingle (as Pinky’s father), Anuradha Rajadhyaksha (as Pinky’s mother), Vijay Nikam (as the local MLA), Pushkar Shrotri and Sanjay Mone (both as policemen) provide fair support. Ajit Bhure, Raya Bhave, Vishal Sudarshanwar, Shubham Khare, Salim Husain Mulla, Rajveersinh Raje Gaikwad and Ani Tejaswini Pandit pass muster.
Rajesh Mapuskar’s direction is good. He has narrated the drama with conviction. Ajay-Atul and Kunal-Karan’s music is appealing. Lyrics (Guru Thakur, Ajay-Atul, Kunal-Karan, Shrirang Godbole and Saurabh Abhyankar) are okay. Song picturisations (by Ganesh Acharya and Stanley D’costa) are eye-filling. Kunal-Karan’s background music is lovely. Sanjay Memane does a fine job of the camerawork. Paramjeet Singh Dhillon’s action and stunt scenes should’ve been more thrilling. Nikhil Kovale’s production designing, and Varun Wadekar’s art direction are of a fair standard. Mayur Hardas and Apurva Motiwale’s editing should’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Yek Number is too ordinary to do anything substantive at the box-office. The Dassera holiday tomorrow (Saturday) should help in boosting collections.
Released on 10-10-’24 at Plaza (2 shows; in daily 1 show from 11-10-’24) and other cinemas of Bombay by Zee Studios. Publicity: okay. Opening: fair at places, dull at others.