Subedaar
Director: Suresh Triveni
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aditya Rawal, Radhika Madaan, Mona Singh
Rating: ★★★.5
It has been fascinating to watch how our viewing habits have evolved. From the days of appointment viewing, we moved to the play pause culture of OTT. Today, content seems to sort itself rather neatly into two kinds: films that demand to be experienced on the big screen, and those you are perfectly content to wait for until they arrive on streaming.
Subedaar, oddly enough, feels like both. For the first hour, it convinces you this is a film that could have exploded in theatres. But by the time it winds down, you are left with the nagging feeling that it might actually belong to the second category, and not for the right reasons.
The premise
Directed by Suresh Triveni, Subedaar unfolds in the hinterlands. A retired Army officer, Arjun Maurya (Anil Kapoor), finds himself appointed as a security officer to the local goon Prince (Aditya Rawal), a man who believes himself superior to everyone. Prince, along with his jailed sister Babli Didi (Mona Singh), is trying to keep a woman captive. Meanwhile, Arjun is grappling with a personal loss and losing touch with his disgruntled daughter, Shyama (Radhika Madan). What happens when all this collides forms the rest of the story.
Subedaar begins on an intriguing note. Written by Triveni and Prajwal Chandrashekhar, the seed of the idea suits the protagonist, played by Anil, perfectly. You sit up with sudden attention as the film pulls you into its world of corruption and menace. Some sequences are executed so effectively that they make you want to clap and whistle. I did. At its core is a compelling idea: a man trying to mind his own business even as the world keeps poking him. In the hands of someone as talented as Anil, that premise promises explosive material.
But after the first hour, Subedaar begins to lose steam, despite the spirited background score by Rohan-Vinayak, which tries to inject some life into the proceedings. As long as the focus remains on Arjun, things work. But the back-and-forth between him and Prince quickly starts to feel repetitive. What also does not help is that the climax, clearly designed to rouse the audience with a cameo, does not quite land. The ending feels rushed, and many of the themes the film initially sets up simply evaporate. For example, we are shown a newspaper clipping for a brief amount of time to reveal what led to Arjun’s personal loss. It misleads you into thinking it’s connected to the overall plot, but it isn’t.
The sub-track, focusing on Shyama’s own fight, doesn’t make the intended impact.
Performance-wise, Anil Kapoor, at 69, is bang on. From his long stares to his body language, he embodies Subedaar so well that it’s difficult to imagine anyone else in his place. Somebody, please make a massy, theatrical action film with Anil ASAP.
Radhika Madan complements Anil well as his daughter and holds her own. Saurabh Shukla is a pro at such roles by now. Aditya Rawal is a natural: he gets on your nerves as the antagonist, and that’s precisely his win. Mona Singh feels underutilised.
The music supports the film, but isn’t memorable after the end credits roll.
Overall, Subedaar is ultimately a film of promise more than payoff. For a while, it teases the possibility of becoming a gripping drama anchored by a magnetic Anil. But as the narrative continues, the film seems unsure of what it wants to say or where it wants to land. What remains is a reminder that a seed of an idea and a terrific actor can only carry a film so far.
Subedaar is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
