Don't
breathe.
Don't
dare
even
blink.
And
please
forget
that
visit
to
the
loo.
Damn,
even
the
bag
of
popcorn
will
be
forgotten
on
your
clenched
lap.
Right
Yaaa
Wrong
is
the
surprise
shocker
of
the
year.
If
you've
forgotten
that
jump-out-of-the-seat
feeling
then
it's
time
to
nudge
it
awake
again.
Debutant
director
Neerraj
Pathak
deserves
a
welcoming
salute.
He
puts
together
a
thriller
that's
as
much
homage
to
Alfred
Hitchcock
and
Brian
da
Palma
as
our
own
Abbas-Mustan
and
Right
Yaaa
Wrong
still
emerges
original
and
strong.
An
intricate
jigsaw
that
always
stays
a
step
ahead
of
the
audience,
Right
Yaaa
Wrong
makes
a
penetrating
comment
on
how
the
country's
legal
system
can
be
subverted
in
a
clever
hand.
More
importantly
the
taut
and
briskly-paced
script
suggests
that
the
yin
and
yang
concepts
of
right
and
wrong
are
not
only
ambivalent
but
also
interchangeable
when
the
context
is
right.
Sunny
Deol,
back
in
shape
in
every
which
way,
plays
a
cop
who
in
the
first
two
reels
loses
the
power
to
walk.
But
the
narration
simply
sprints
along
through
a
series
of
unpredictable
twists
and
turns
that
take
the
striking
characters
across
a
maze
of
intrigue
and
conspiracy.
Truly,
the
screenplay
is
far
superior
to
its
execution.
And
that's
entirely
a
comment
on
the
above-average
caliber
of
the
writing.
Writers
Girish
Dhamija,
Sanjay
Puran
Singh
Chauhan
and
Neerraj
Pathak
pack
in
a
walloping
punch
in
both
pre-
and
post-interval
hours.
The
characters
and
their
motivations
address
themselves
to
adventure-thriller-suspense
would
of
James
Hadley
Chase
and
Sidney
Sheldon.
The
men
are
brave
and
heroic,
clever
and
fearless.
Even
when
cuckolded
Deol
is
dignified
in
the
embrace
of
betrayal.
Editor
Ashfaq
Makrani
juxtaposes
moments
of
tense
suspense
with
glimpses
of
heightened
poignancy.
This
is
murder
in
mellow
shades.
The
cop's
wife
played
by
Esha
Koppikhar
is
unabashedly
wanton.
Outwardly
she's
the
duty-bound
cop's
home-bound
wife
with
a
perfect
home
and
cute
son
(Ali
Haji).
Scratch
the
surface
and
there
emerges
a
woman
who's
sleeping
with
the
cop's
kid-brother.
Ouch.
Where's
the
couch???
Shades
of
Bipasha
from
Abbas-Mustan's
Race?
Yes?
But
don't
let
this
hectic
whodunit's
antecedents
bother
you.
The
storytelling
takes
wings
from
the
word
go.
And
we
are
swept
ahead.
As
the
characters
go
from
'bed'
to
worse.
However
the
people
in
Pathak's
pacy
plot
are
so
hurriedly
propelled
to
their
nemesis
that
we
never
get
close
enough
to
any
of
them
to
understand
their
inner
world.
The
depths
are
discarded
for
the
dips
and
curves.
The
performances
are
even
and
well-informed.
Sunny
Deol
in
a
role
that
requires
him
to
sublimate
his
pain
in
a
status
of
stoicism
gets
it
just
right.
Irrfan
creates
ample
space
for
himself
in
a
role
that's
sketchy
for
starters
but
gathers
substance
as
the
yarn
progresses.
Konkona
Sen
Sharma
as
the
stereotypical
Sympathetic
Shoulder
gets
rid
of
her
set-expressions
and
comes
up
with
a
performance
of
restrained
bravura
in
the
courtroom.
And
Esha
Koppikhar
plays
the
thankless
role
of
the
unfaithful
wife
and
a
disgraceful
mother
with
much
relish.
Here's
a
film
that
extends
the
borders
of
morality.
It
does
so
in
the
commercial
language
without
resorting
to
crass
situations
and
dialogues.
For
fans
of
Sunny
Deol's
fist-friendly
image
here's
the
actor
telling
us
that
strength
is
sometimes
a
matter
of
holding
back
rather
than
letting
it
all
hang
out.
Story first published: Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 10:48 [IST]