Madaari isn’t the first Hindi film to advocate a brand of vigilantism that borders on the fascist. Nor is it likely to be the last. But its point about the deadly distortions of democracy is terribly laboured and sketchily articulated. Terms like instant justice, kangaroo court, media trial, rule of law and ideal voter are bandied about. They do not eventually add up to much because the tale of loss and retribution that Madaari sets out to narrate is lost in a heap of cliches.