Rarely does a movie move you, shake you and hold you still at the same time. Neeraj Pandey, in his debut, has surely got it - right on.
Apart from the plot being believable, the script is very very crisp, the dialogues to the point, the delivery by the master stalwarts Anupam Kher (as down-to-business Commissioner Rathod) and Naseeruddin Shah (as, I guess, himself) is flawless, locations weree well thought out, cinematography is admirable, ...... few misses, most hits.
The plot is a creative one (another rarity for hindi cinema), an anonymous bomb-scare call in a humdrum Mumbai police day, goes from being just-a-hoax to something real, we see the inner workings of the Mumbai Police as they get their act together to trace the caller and thwart the inevitable. But the caller is always one step ahead.
The caller uses TV media, cell-phones, RDX, and his demand to release terrorists to set in motion some thrilling action - all done from a rooftop desk on an unfinished building (another nice touch by Neeraj). With the police trying, but failing, they have to give in to the demands of releasing the terrorists, but the climax has something rather different in store for us. The film ends with a wonderful ping-pong of interview like dialogues between Naseer and Anupam which pretty much is the highlight of the script.
While the main story line proceeds the director has weaved in some fine anecdotal situations, putting the viewer into a comfort zone of - this is life in a metro. The family life of a diligent Police Inspector, the conundrum of News vs Sensationalism for a media anchor, the articulation of a grocery list, the bribe-taking by a traffic cop, a college dropout hacker, a wife-beaten husband, thrashing of miscreants ..... all there to add an amicable perspective to the burning issue. Jimmy Shergil, Aamir Bashir also turn in inspired performances.
Definitely, a page-turner.