4084

The central idea of 4084 is simple: how thieves can turn cops and vice versa. All by a quirk of fate. But the narrative takes way too long to get there. In fact, the whole film is just an exasperatingly extended introduction to utterly inane and colourless characters. The real film plays out merely in the last hour, by which time it’s way too late for the audience to have any interest left.

Four thieves, Naseer, Kay Kay, Atul and Ravi, are out to grab a bounty worth Rs 20 crore. It’s an utterly tame, lame, uninteresting robbery that offers no thrills, tension, or shocks whatsoever. If last week’s Players had twists and turns every other minute, 4084 goes to the other extreme—it hardly has any. The filmmaker also reveals his lack of musical sensibility—item songs have been thrust in shoddily for no reason. And the only reason why Hasan Jehangir’s Hawa Hawa holds you is the nostalgia factor. A good set of actors is criminally wasted in the film. Not that they bring much to the table either. Naseer sleepwalks, Kay Kay and Atul ham and Ravi is sleazy as usual. To offer a contemporary touch, the filmmaker deliberately uses a back-and-forth narrative. But it brings nothing to the film. 4084 would’ve been just as bad had he told it straightforward.