HIT: The First Case (2022) :
Movie Review -
Rajkummar Rao has brought the first-ever suspense thriller of his career (lead role) called HIT: The First Case. Shailesh Kolanu has remodelled his own Telugu Thriller of the same name, assuming that the primary creator should be the one to recreate the portrait. HIT: The First Case is a simple copy-paste of the original Telugu flick, with one surprise change in the climax. It may work for some people, but some are entitled to bash it for valid reasons. I belong to the latter group. HIT almost hits it right until the unnecessarily advanced change in the climax, which certainly brings it one level down from the original thriller. A suspense thriller in the 2020s decade is meant to bring some old tricks to bear, be it any film, and HIT isn't anything different.
HIT: The First Case is about a mentally disturbed homicide investigation officer, Vikram (Rajkummar Rao), who is on the hunch of a kidnapper. His investigation gathers speed after his love interest, Neha (Sanya Malhotra), also disappears without any clues. He then follows the clues and realises that both the cases are linked to each other. We have a new suspect and conflict every 15 minutes, and that's what keeps the screenplay engaging. However, the runtime bothers you a little as it takes longer than expected. The writing is interesting, just like extended episodes of CID or any crime serial on TV. What's more interesting is that every character plays some important part while they are on screen.
Rajkummar Rao is the leading horse here; rather, he is the front runner by distance. Comparing him with Vishwak Sen wouldn't be unfair because he plays exactly the same role, with no changes at all. Rao brings his own touch to the character, and he also pulls off some serious gags very convincingly. In one word, he is impeccable! Sanya Malhotra disappears quickly as per the script's demand, but she is cute with whatever limited screen space she has got. Shanu Kumar, Sanjay Narvekar, Jatin Goswami, Shilpa Shukla and Millind Gunaji are strictly okay with those transparent appearances after specific intervals. As a whole, the acting department solely rides on Rajkummar Rao's shoulders, and he takes the ship through.
HIT: The First Case is slowed down by the unnecessary songs. Actually, a thriller looks better if it's songless. The majority of filmmakers don't understand this basic rule. That's sad. Repeating the same mistake, HIT flops there. It has some good dialogues battling with humour and situational sense, and a few of them work really well. The technical aspects are good, but nothing noteworthy. The cinematography remains unchanged from the mainstream thrillers. Even though there was room for experimentation with the frames, none were carried out.
Sailesh Kolanu fulfils the criteria of a remake, but he fails to deliver something out of the box. The conceptual adventure is there, but the practical excitement is missing. Kolanu goes terribly wrong with that additional change in the climax because it does not sound accurate - logically, hypothetically, or both. Even with the original flick, he followed the same old formula of deception, but the film went out quite well with its cinematic viewing experience. With Hindi HIT, he tries something different, which is something weird, to be frank. But who knows? It might work for some people. In a nutshell, HIT offers nothing better than the original Telugu thriller, rather it's a little less. But yes, Rajkummar Rao's finesse certainly makes it watchable for you.
RATING - 5/10*
