This film’s script comes across like a Special 26 or A Wednesday with only one angle in aspect. In all these films you are rooting for the criminal. They make the lawless ways look just by their execution.
In Rustom, the protagonist’s character is written with such a lot of sugarcoating that you hardly find him to be a murderer.
The film’s story has been crafted well with good twists, turning points. The cinematic liberties that the makers have taken are clearly crowd-pleasing and in the lieu to pack this film as an entertaining watch.
What they stray away from, is making this film a juicy tabloid affair which could’ve easily been the case considering the story’s basic elements involving an extra marital affair and a murder.
Sadly, to make it crowd pleasing, the writers give up on the opportunity to develop a point which was most obvious in the story. They fail to show how justified it is for a Navy officer’s wife to stray away into adultery given the circumstances. Instead, they portray a weak woman who is ashamed of her affair and also back it up by showing her lover to be a bast* rd which justifies her to be pulled into a situation and not because of choice. One would definitely question this to be different from the real case.
The side characters are much more well-written. We love the ‘maid’ who shouts in favor of her employer in court without the fear or knowledge of being held in contempt. Also Kumud Mishra’s tabloid owner character is extremely enjoyable.
The representation of a young kid selling the newspaper by giving juicy dialogues worked for me really well.
The courtroom scenes are dramatic and they even pull off self-jokes on their TV-serial type drama. This self-joke kind of thing seems like a very smart writing move.
Towards the climax, the plot falters hugely. The jury deciding their decision is a terrible scene.