Film: India’s Most Wanted
Cast: Arjun Kapoor; Rajesh Sharma; Prashanth Alexander; Shantilal Mukherjee
Director: Raj Kumar Gupta
Rating: 2 stars
Arjun Kapoor starrer ‘India’s Most Wanted’ is a half-assed attempt at a patriotic movie in which the lead seems as disinterested as the audience would feel. Based on a true story, the film follows a group of officers who arrested terrorist Abdul Subhan Qureshi, of proscribed organisation Indian Mujahideen (IM) who is also referred to as India’s Osama Bin Laden.
Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta who also gave us a gem like No One Killed Jessica, ‘India’s Most Wanted’ feels like a story worth telling but wasn’t given the deserved effort. The film takes us to a restaurant in Pune where everyone is enjoying their time, live music and delicious food, only to be bombed down by a terrorist back in 2008. We are then taken to Patna in 2013 where we see a team of officers specialising in covert and extracting operations, who have always been successful, cue Arjun Kapoor. However when he gets an information that a name on most wanted list could be in Nepal, he is denied support and facilities to probe the informant.
Risking their lives using their own money they team heads out to complete the mission without orders in four days only to find more enemies on the other side of the boarder. While this is a classic situation and a very intriguing one, the makers get its best only through the first half. This is supposed to have a realistic feel, which seems too much to accept when the dialogues of the film suggest otherwise. The screenplay has few punch lines but they come as often as Arjun is put into a daring position, which is throughout the film.
The slow paced film takes its sweet time to confuse the audience with just the informant, while the terrorist roams at large in Nepal’s Pokhara. We also get constant reminders of the bomb blasts that happen over the years. with black and white pictures of the actual even in a poor attempt to sway us.
The second half of the film drags us through the on and off field conversations, where Arjun wants to attack, while the officers is Delhi wish him to sit put and return. And even when they manage to get their hands on Yusuf who has managed to terrorise the country for 8 years, he just sits back in the care with shades on like it’s no one’s business.
India’s Most Wanted is a brave tale one should know with more heart and soul in the story.