We all have come across numerous cases of accidents and deaths resulting as a result of apathy shown by the administration. It is not uncommon to hear about people dying due to bridge collapse, potholes, floods etc. The worst thing is that hardly anyone is punished for it. The culprits pass the buck, the victims grieve and then move on. So do the people and they erupt again when another such incident takes place. Madaari tells the story of one such man whose life gets shattered due to a tragedy. But instead of making peace with it, he turns into a ‘madaari’ and ensures that the culprits dance to his tunes. It’s not terrific as such but makes for a good watch once!
The story of the movie: Nirmal Kumar(Irrfan Khan) kidnaps the home minister Prashant Goswami’s(Tushar Dalvi) son Rohan(Master Vishesh Bansal), sending shockwaves in the ministry circles. The entire thing is kept under wraps. Nachiket Verma(Jimmy Sheirgill) is given the charge to head the investigation. Nirmal doesn’t make any ransom calls and changes his location, leaving Nachiket clueless as to what exactly does the former want
Madaari begins very well. The first 30 minutes pass off in a jiffy and keeps viewers very engaged. The film then slows down and initially one doesn’t mind especially since the flashback portions have their charm. But later the charm wanes off and one wishes the flashback portions and even the present-day portions were a bit shorter. This especially happens in the second half. Madaari is a 135 minute long film but ideally it should have been not more than 110 minutes long. The climax thankfully is better and takes the film many notches higher. The finale in a way saves the day since the film had really dropped a lot in the second half.
Madaari belongs to Irrfan Khan – no doubts about that! He’s a pro when it comes to intense performances and with Madaari, he continues the tradition. He comes alive in the climax and in the train sequence. The film might be forgotten but Irrfan Khan will and should be remembered for this performance! Jimmy Sheirgill looks quite suave and as always, delivers a sincere performance. One wishes that his character had more to do in the film and display his heroic side. But nevertheless, a fine performance! Vishesh Bansal has a crucial part to play and does a good job. Tushar Dalvi delivers a great performance and same goes for the actor playing his wife. Nitesh Pandey is over the top in the scenes where he’s reporting but nicely restrained in the finale. Uday Tikekar(Pratap Nimbalkar) is over the top but it goes well with his character. Others do a good job.
There are 2 songs in the film – Masoom Sa and Dama Dama Dam – and both manage to linger in one’s mind for sometime. Background score is fair. Avinash Arun’s cinematography is top-class. The locales of Uttarakhand and Rajasthan are well shot. Shailja Kejriwal’s story is very nice and very relatable. Ritesh Shah’s dialogues are sharp while screenplay is a bit faulty. Nishikant Kamat’s direction is not as great as Drishyam but better than what he managed in Rocky Handsome. He should have made the film a bit shorter and maybe could have added more exciting moments in the second half. The entire ‘What if’ bit works well for the first time and the second time, it gives one a jolt but ultimately, doesn’t make much sense. The climax is well executed despite the unconvincing factor and resemblance with A Wednesday. One of the best scenes is how the ministers are on a damage control mode post the kidnapping, putting the media and opposition in its place. If Madaari had more such scenes, it would have been much better than what it turned out to be!
On the whole, Madaari is worth watching once for Irrfan Khan’s brilliant performance and for the riveting climax. The film could have been shorter by 20 minutes and slightly more convincing. But the climax makes up for it. You’ll wish that someone like Nirmal Kumar would take these baddies to task and teach them a nice lesson in the same way that he does in the film!