*Honest cop fighting the system and still emerging winner.. * Umpteen movies have been made on this subject and many more will be made in the future.. Some show it from the cops point of view like Ardhsatya, khakee, Aan, Abh tak chappan *etc.. Some show it from the point of view of the gangsters and criminals like * Satya, Company * and many more from Ram Gopal Verma factory.. but this one is more like watching a compelling gritty documentary without the flashy or the glamour of RGV.. Though its equally hard hitting but it spares you with blood and other grotesque shots.. And mind it its * Kabeer Kaushik’s ** * maiden script-direction venture (I had to google to find his name).. It is easy to criticize or to attack but it is worth watching a film that doesn’t judge or condemn the cops…
The movie is set in early and mid 90’s and shot in UP.. mostly in Lucknow and surrounding areas with a bit of Delhi thrown in… The movie is made in a flashback mode through Pankaj Kapur’s eyes.. … *Ajay(Arshad warsi) * is a honest and brave policemen who joins his work at Lucknow as SSP where he comes face to face with the gangster and mafia nexus in the city.. Welcome to UP the hotbelly of organized crime.
he is working on a case of murder and It turns out that the gangster was killed by another rival gangster * Gajraj (Sushant Singh) * who is smart, sauve and who uses his clout among political circles and police force and is becoming a headache for police force. As Ajay goes about investigating his case, he figures out how well organized the crime world is with its links to politicians, businessmen and the very keepers of law.
Initially they meet with failures as the corrupt policemens from the system work in tandem with gangsters. Gangsters use the benefit of police jurisdictions to give slip to them many times.. to come over this they had to cover all the UP with out the help of local police for which they required special powers..To achieve this, Ajay forms the *STF (Special Task Force) * comprising of honest and dutybound cops. Initially STF is pushed down by babudom but when the CM’s Industrialist friends kin is kidnapped its formed and given state wide power. The movie is devoid of unrealistic gimmicks.. like When struck with the new tool mobile-- which criminals use to communicate with each other and catches the police force off gaurd, as they do not know how to listen into these conversations.
Keen on wanting to anticipate Gajraj’s next move an expert in cell-phone technology a college professor *(Pankaj Kapur) * is added to the team by him.. not the usual we know all policemen stuff (supermans)… It is fascinating to watch a realistic depiction of a police force struggling against odds to hold back underworld. with Pankaj kapur’s help they start tracking gangsters and start catching them or eliminating them…In his fight against the gangsters and the corrupt ones, Ajay has the moral support of *ADG (Naved Aslam) * and love interest in a college lecturer * Anamika ( Mahima Chaudhary – in a short and sweet role.. no unnecessary histronics). In a mentionable role is Ajay’s mother (Suhasini Mulay) * who teaches him to be brave while she is herself struggling to come over the memory of his husband who shot himself after getting court-martialed from army for showing cowardice on duty. But shows her caring mom side when gets abusive threatening calls against his son.. very realistic cinema.. there are also many other characters which come and go (usually going via bullet) and many subplots are there like – kidnapping, fraud, suicide – and are given depth by the human emotions of doubt, pain..
- Sehar does not have the usual songs, which is also good as it doesn’t interfere with the film flow.. but the background score is fabulous and keeps the flow..
Second thing that’s brilliant about Seher is its editing.. crisp and realistic end product. A lot of thought and hard work must have gone into the cinematography and screenplay. Seher definitely brings out the seriousness of the issues it talks about, though this does give the film a documentary feel.
All in all, Sehar is a good film due to realistic treatment by director and good performances by the star cast. The movie’s climax – shot on a moving train – is another redeeming factor.
Also what makes Seher different is the fact that we finally get to see Arshad Warsi in a much-deserved lead role other then the famous circuit... He is definitely one of Bollywood’s most underrated actors! ..There is another power house actor Sushant singh... He is the main villain of the piece but always kept at a distance. Maybe the intention was to shroud his character in mystery to heighten the suspense but it does backfire after a point. While we are shown the protagonist’s background, very little is revealed of his antagonist. Sushant Singh does the best he can in a somewhat sketchy role..
*Best Scenes –
Climax – Pankaj kapur taking revolver in his hand.
Ajay’s juniors taking the abusive caller to task… the use of word fadfadaye.. and then they being taken to task by ADG.
The story by CM.
The shoot out to save industralist’s kidnapped son
The shoot out of Gajrajs deputy Tripathi in Delhi and then explanation to the lawyer.
Cornering the builder of Mehra construction and exposing his links with Gajraj
Policemen getting bored in technology lectures.
The dialogue on delhi police when they join STF..
Gajraj coming to know police is tapping cellphones.
And many more..
* *Arrey yaar purra ho gaya … abh move to rating and commenting….. Phadne ka hai toh phaad daalo…
Ratings, Comments and Criticism are more than welcome.. **