Click it and Unblock the Notifications
A Thursday Movie Review: Yami Gautam's Resounding Performance Leaves A Lasting Impression
After a hostage situation fiasco, the Prime Minister of India (played by Dimple Kapadia) rebukes her personal assistant for taking a major decision without her knowledge. When the latter accidentally makes a sexist comment, she bursts out at him and says, "Emotions can be an asset. You will learn with age."
Behzada Khambata's latest offering A Thursday too functions like Kapadia's words. When his hostage drama brings in some far-fetched elements in the plot, he awakens your emotional senses to make sure that you stay invested in his story.
Available on: Disney+ Hotstar
What's Yay: Performances
What's Nay: The suspension of disbelief gets too heavy especially for a film which has a lot of social commentary.
Story
A Thursday starts on a bright note. Naina Jaiswal (Yami Gautam), a kindergarten teacher at Lil Dots playschool hits back to work after a three-week sick leave. The kids are happy to see their favourite teacher and get playful with her. Meanwhile, Naina who shares her birthday with one of the playschool kids Niharika, is keen to have a double celebration at the playschool. Amid some light banters about birthdays and cakes, Naina switches on some cartoons for the children.
When they start making noise, she shushes them and her mien suddenly turns cold as she gazes at the audience. Naina soon informs the cops that she has taken the 16 playschool kids as hostages and begins a series of demands which hold a key to the bigger picture.
Direction
Behzad Khambata who made his Bollywood directorial debut with the forgettable Sunny Deol-Karan Kapadia starrer Blank, picks up a socially relevant subject for his second film. With limited characters, he along with co-writer Ashley Michael Lobo weaves a story that's more than just race against time.
While A Thursday has a powerful emotional arc and makes some hard-hitting commentary on current issues, the film loses some points when Khambata takes too many cinematic liberties in terms of the narrative. His execution falters at places but thankfully, the actors save the day with their convincing performances. A spiritual successor to Neeraj Pandey's critically acclaimed A Wednesday, this Yami Gautam-starrer needed some taut writing to add more to the thrills.
Performances
In her first author-backed role, Yami Gautam proves that she has able shoulders to carry a film on her own. Watch out for the scene where she switches her demeanour for the first time. It will give you goosebumps for sure! At the same time, her emotional outbursts and the struggle to deal with a past trauma show also touches your heart. Some more of this Yami, please!
Atul Kulkarni as ACP Javed Khan brings in the right amount of fire and anxiousness on screen. Neha Dhupia who plays the role of a pregnant cop tackling a hostage crisis is also effective. One wished the makers had explored some more of her dynamics with Atul's character. Dimple Kapadia plays the PM with conviction. Karanvir Sharma lends good support as Naina's fiancé. Kalyanee Mule and Boloram Das pull off their respective roles well.
Technical Aspects
Anuj Rakesh Dhawan's camera work aids in creating tense moments required for the mood of the film. However, the cinematographer could have gone a little easy on tight close up shots which takes away some of the realism. Sumeet Kotian's editing is honed.
Music
A Thursday is devoid of any songs and that completely works in its favour. The background score is a bit jarring at a few places and the constant crescendo gets tiresome after a while.
Verdict
In one of the scenes, Naina (Yami Gautam) tells the PM, "Iss desh mein log jaaanbujh kar behre banke ghumte hai. Jab tak kaan mein na cheekho kissi ke gardan nahin mudte hai." Behzad Khambata's A Thursday shouts a burning issue. While some of its sounds get drowned in the implausible execution, Yami Gautam makes sure that it reaches your ears with her powerful performance.
We give 3 stars out of 5 for Yami Gautam's A Thursday.
