Zed Plus

Starring: Adil Hussain, Mona Singh, Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Directed by Chandra Prakash Dwivedi
Rating:

Zed Plus refers to the high level of security offered to small-time tyre puncture shop owner Aslam (Adil Hussain) when he has a brush with the prime minister (Kulbhushan Kharbanda). Built on this interesting idea, the film starts pro­m­isingly. It gets the nua­nces of its setting well: small town Fatehpur in Rajasthan and its Peepal ke Peer ki masjid have a lived-in feeling, and the array of residents, played by a set of talented actors, feel real, while the sarcasm hits the right notes initially as it casts an eye on the absurdity and opportunism of politics. Aslam happens to be the khadim for the day at the masjid when the PM comes to pray for his faltering coalition government. Aslam’s fight with his neighbour and a miscommunication with the PM turn him into a VIP. There are nice doses of black humour and sharp, witty lines. But the promise of becoming an Ind­ian Yes Minister comes undone in the second half, when the script loses its quirkiness. After a good set-up, the film falters with a predictable and senti­m­en­tal resolution. What’s irksome is that a supposedly south Indian, Engl­ish-speaking PM looks more a Hindi hear­t­landwala than Adil himself. The lingo-div­ide, on which the essential twist of the film rests, gets sadly sloppy.