A Wednesday is immensely problematic to rate. It’s gripping, terse and well-crafted, has a twist that throws you off kilter. But this twist, which makes it so distinctive a thriller, leaves you deeply disturbed.
In a way, the film moves a step forward from where Rang De Basanti left. In a similar vein, it articulates the frustration and violence that has become deep-seated in the urban, middle-class psyche. But Rang De in its own naive way eventually did say that violence cannot be the solution, the perpetrators were eliminated and peace did get restored. In A Wednesday, the writing on the wall is more categorical and scary—that extremism can only be defeated by extremism, that the solution to violence is some more bloodshed. Moreover, with a powerful actor like Naseer delivering this ideology, it only gets more persuasive and rousing. Watch him talk about "the stupid common man" and you can understand why the crowd is lapping it all up. It might be cliched dialogue-baazi but Naseer’s booming voice is a force that takes you along. The film also makes you wonder if liberalism, pacifism, generosity and good-heartedness, put forth a few weeks ago by Mumbai Meri Jaan, have suddenly been rendered obsolete? Another rankling aspect is why all the Muslims in the film are shown to be either terrorists or pathologically prone to violence like the cop Arif. Could this be a mere coincidence?
The film is all about a terrorist who could well be Laxman’s common man. He eats regular sandwiches, shops for tomatoes for his wife and also claims to have planted bombs at various locations in Mumbai. The police has to get its act together to nab him in a few hours. There are broad brushstrokes here —the police is unbelievably efficient and committed. It almost functions like the army with the chief (well portrayed by Kher) barking orders in the war room. There are some nice moments of humour to break the overarching tension. When the chief gets to know that the intelligence has no knowledge about RDX shipment, his answer is terse and simple: "It’s consistent". Or the young hacker they employ to crack at the terrorist claiming he is a dropout, "by choice".
High Fives
Bollywood
1. Rock On
2. Bachna Ae Haseeno
3. A Wednesday
4. Hijack
5. Singh is Kinng
Hollywood
1. Bangkok Dangerous
2. Tropic Thunder
3. The Dark Knight
4. The House Bunny
5. Traitor
Pop Singles
1. Family Tradition (Senses Fail)
2. Metanoia (MGMT)
3. Git It 2 Me (Madonna)
4. The Resolution (Jack’s Mannequin)
5. Do You Wanna (The Kooks)
Courtesy: Film Information
