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Class Of '83 Movie Review: Bobby Deol's Cop Drama Glosses Over The Real Story
Class of '83 is a quick overview of a bigger story that is left unexplored.
Available
on:
Netflix
Language:
Hindi
Duration:
92
minutes
Story: Class of '83 follows a demoted cop played by Bobby Deol. After moving to an academy job, he trains five foolhardy students as assassins in his risky revenge plot against police corruption and the underworld of Bombay.
Review: Class of '83 is based on a book called Class of '83: The Punishers Of Mumbai Police by S Hussain Zaidi. Like any book adaptation, the film only glosses over the bare minimum with excessive narration and very little substance for its character. While the actors do their best, the rushed script keeps the audience from engaging with its characters.
The film starts with narration by one of the cadets from the class of '83 and introduces us to Dean Vijay Singh. He is always missing from the training grounds, meetings and classes, but has a legendary reputation that leads to several cadets being fascinated by him. Played by Bobby Deol, Dean Vijay Singh ended up at the academy as a punishment posting because of digging too deep in a case about a gangster, who was backed by a politician.
With an aim to exact revenge on the corrupt system, Vijay Singh decides to train the backbenchers and cadets with loades as west grassassins, to break the chain of corruption in Bombay Police. Slowly through sidelines, Vijay proceeds to create an encounter squad by recruiting his students from the first batch of '83- Vishnu Varde (Hitesh Malukani), Aslam Khan (Sameer Paranjpe), Jhawan (Ninad Mahajani), Surve (Prithvik Kamble), and Pramod Shukla (Bhupendra Jadawat).
Bobby Deol As Dean Vijay Singh
Class of '83 sets out to be an account of how the encounter squad helped eradicate crime from streets of Bombay in a time where gangsters like Chhota Rajan, Iqbal Kaskar and Dawood Ibrahim were wreaking havoc. Instead, most of the film is just glimpses from the lives of these men and how they fell into the world of crime, slowly losing their morality. While they do manage to reach their goal in the end, it comes at a heavy price.
The Film Is Based On Book Class of ‘83: The Punishers Of Mumbai Police
Directed by Atul Sabharwal and written by Abhijeet Deshpande the film comes from a bird's eye view. The audiences hardly get to see these characters do something. It is the narration that relays information, and sets up the story along with every twist and turn in the film. There are a few memorable scenes where we get to see the cast interact. One such scene is at the beginning when the group members become friends and another is halfway through, as their group falls apart due to rivalry.
The Film's Villain Is The Corrupt System
The story focuses on the bigger picture which was the idea to eradicate two main gangs of Mumbai. The encounter squad does not have a personal vengeance, they are just doing their job out of loyalty. "And what's wrong if one gang pays you a bit to kill the other gang members. In the end, one gangster is off the street?" asks Shukla when he is accused of bribery. Its the same question about morality that the film plays with. From training at the academy to working under political pressure, Class of '83 questions the system and its efficiency.
Class of '83 Is Available On Netflix
Commentable parts of the film include Mario Poljac's cinematography which recreates 1980's Bombay effortlessly without any hiccups. Bobby Deol's acting chops are also responsible for keeping the audience grounded. He certainly knows how to make his presence felt without overpowering his co-actors. Thanks to this, the film also presents a talented cast of Hitesh Malukani, Sameer Paranjpe, Ninad Mahajani, Prithvik Kamble, and Bhupendra Jadawat.
Overall, Class of '83 is a quick overview of a bigger story that is left unexplored.
