Rajkummar Hits The Right Notes In HIT

HIT: The  First Case

Starring Rajkummar Rao, Sania  Malhotra, Jatin Goswami,

Written & Directed by Sailesh Kolanu

Rating: *** ½

 One  can always depend on Rajkummar Rao to carry a film to its finish even  if the  material tends to stumble  at crucial points,  as  it does in this thriller,  a remake  of  the Telugu  film of the same title where Vishwak Sen  played the troubled cop  looking for two missing girls, one  of them his life partner.

The set-up is intriguing and skilled  cinematographer  S Manikandan  who also shot the  original telugu film, uses  the Udaipur locales to create  the visual  equivalent  of  a calm ocean  with  rumbles within. The  director uses extraneous  props such  as  the  background score to create  a sense  of distant  foreboding.

The film’s biggest USP is  some of  the  talented cast. There are some  well-honed  actors  in supporting role  including Milind Gunaji, a very dependable actor from the 1990s , back as  cop who LOOKS corrupt(untucked shirt, smoking , etc). But looks, as we all know , can  be deceptive. How else do we explain Rajkummar Rao doing such a flipflop  of image and so convincingly?

The  script constantly searches  for ways to keep us invested, and doesn’t always succeed. There are too many  red herrings and deadends  in the  thriller .Many times I caught the script trying to be too clever  for its own good when  in fact  it’s just lazy  writing masquerading as speed-dial  suspense .However there is  some amount of dramatic potential in Rao’s  internal  rivalry with his  colleague  played with  a snarling  misanthropy  by Jatin  Goswami.Akhil Iyer as  Rao’s faithful  buddy has a gentle presence  which reminds us of  the lull before a  storm.

I  was not convinced  by the unravelling of the mystery. But  Rao’s raw energy always  keeps  us  involved.  The title  HIT,  by the way , is not  a sign of wishful thinking.It stands for Homicide Intervention Team. And a  sequel is  on  the way.I wish  the  team didn’t  move into so many tangents to  solve a case. I understand  that  the audience  loves a  long-winded hyper-fidgety  whodunit. But in the  bid to  stay ahead of the audience, the suspense is diluted .