Anek

ANEk rides on the Ayushmann Khurrana platform of socially aware films but starts and ends with the mic passed on to the actor whose story is being told. This is a step in the right direction. It corrects what Aysuhmann's last film left to be desired. However, Anek isn't just about the North East region of India. Anek is ambitious. Almost too ambitious for its own good. It's less film and more an idea. The idea of moving towards participatory democracy. The idea of India transitioning into the United States of India.

Anubhav Sinha is a fantastic questioner. You can see that he hates leaving any question unasked and that habit is at the forefront in this film. His questions are often challenging and occasionally even existential. The hope is that his insatiable urge of asking questions will rub off on the moviegoers and will make them imbibe critical thinking that our education system has largely kept at bay.

The movie stays on brand with this theme and even ends with a question. Reasoning is simple. The film wants the public to come up with answers to those questions instead of being didactic about its point. And the film does its job of giving every side enough footage to appear unbiased - the government, the disillusioned government officer, the politicised rebel group, the militant group who represents the voice of the people, the group whose entire struggle is nudging mainland India to recognise them for real and not just on paper. Unlike other political thrillers, this film is extremely nuanced. So much so that I've seen people thinking it's muddled because of it. It's a fair concern because the film is noticeably marred by what I call as the Batman vs Superman syndrome.

The editor has done the entire crew dirty. Their job is so choppy that it does terrible injustice towards everyone else from the actors to writers to cinematographers all of whom have done a near-perfect job. There are scenes where you can actually tell that they were cut to shorten the film and thus end up being pointless. There are also a few plotholes (why is Joshua having a change of heart 3 years into his stay in the unnamed state of the NE) which demand a level of suspension of disbelief that you don't expect from a film this rooted in reality. Add to that the production value of the film is cheap probably because of its tight budget.

Ayushmann Khurrana, however, does his level best to carry this film despite all its shortcomings. His performance lifts the film and keeps you engaged even when the editing zones you out. His shades of gray are more impressive than his transition into the empathetic man - the latter he has done often throughout his career. Watch out for his scene right after the viral North-South language scene. It's a career-high, award-worthy performance that involves a nihilistic question that is bound to make literally everyone uncomfortable and ends with a statement that would rile up a large chunk of his audience. It's a shame though that the film doesn't give him enough action sequences because the man was bulked up enough to pull it off. Andrea does a phenomenal job for a debutante. She is consistent throughout the film. Seasoned actors Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa and Loitongbam Dorendra live up to their names specially the latter two who get ample footage in the film.

Despite all the issues that plague this film, its highs are so thoroughly engaging and leave such a slow burner impact on you with its very relevant questions that they almost make up for the lows. Hopefully, we will get the director's cut of this film someday which would do justice to it.

Its not a movie worth for entertainment.... It's certainly not made for that.. The picture would make you aware of the circumstances which are probably faced by the living citizens of North East... And its not probably about North East, about majority of the Indian states are eventually disregarded or are made discriminated with the United power of India by some racial remarks, to be honest... The picture just brings out the mentioned issue infront of all... The plot has been exaggerated a little so the ratings have been cut upon that, but i won't say that the gist is wrong... In the end, the choice is all yours if you would wanna watch it or not... But pls kindly dont expect it to be a entertaining one cause the issues are not...

Anubhav Sinha's Anek is a gripping-layered narrative about efforts to negotiate a peace treaty in the North-East India with a separatist group, a process that has gone on for decades without a conclusion. A covert operative, Aman (Ayushmann Khurrana), who goes by the alias Joshua, is tasked with creating a situation that brings Tiger Sangha (Loitongbam Dorendra), the top rebel leader of the region, to the negotiation table. Along the way, Aman finds that everything isn't as black and white as he had initially thought and finds himself conflicted, emotionally and professionally.

With conversational dialogues interspersed throughout the narrative, Anek brings you face to face with the undercurrents of discrimination and alienation from 'mainland' India that exist in different pockets of the northeast. At times uncomfortably so, but then that is the intent of the narration. Anubhav Sinha doesn't use heavy-duty, seetimaar lines or overt jingoism. What works here is subtlety in the dialogues and performances, and some nuanced writing that brings out the essence of the grey that Anubhav Sinha set out to depict through the film.

Anek, through its runtime, draws subtle parallels between the northeast and other parts of the country, in particular Jammu and Kashmir. For instance, Manoj Pahwa's character, Abrar Butt, Aman's superior and a Kashmiri himself, looks out of an airplane's window while on a flight to the northeast. Taking in the breathtaking view, he says, "Agar Firdaus bar Roo-e Zameen Ast, Hameen Ast-o Aameen ast-o Hameen Ast" - Khusro's well-known line that describes the picturesque beauty of Kashmir. Through the window of that plane, the director offers you a glimpse of the outer beauty and inner turmoil of both regions.

The film is engaging, but it could have done with a tighter screen time by trimming 5-10 minutes . It's a tad slow pre-interval and comparatively fast-paced post that, and unpacks a lot in that timespan.

With some powerful performances by Ayushmann Khurrana, Manoj Pahwa, Andrea Kevichüsa, Kumud Mishra, Loitongbam Dorendra, and JD Chakraverti, the film leaves the audience with plenty of unsettling questions - primarily, what makes you an Indian. The use of silences, regional dialect, folk songs and the background score, the production design, the visual tone, cinematography and action pieces, lend themselves well to the narrative.

Anubhav Sinha continues his run as a conscience-keeper of sorts, making one film after another - Mulk, Article 15, Thappad - that force you to think about equality and justice in the context of religion, caste, gender, and now region.

ANEK - 8.2 1st half, 6.5 2nd half. Overall 7.5/10 (more weightage to first half these days as if that isn't fancy, nobody will go till the end)

It opens a new door to Indian cinema which talks about geo-politics of the most complicated democracy in the world with 22 official languages with no national language and national sport as such. Why? Well, it isn't democratic yet to decide on one, the very oneness we miss as a country. This film lays bare the very dirty and polluted politics of India and its policies to deal with separatists. We Indians are at one side and the separatists toil to scramble the ladder of recognition but they are pulled back with two choices, either die or chant Jai Hind and be with us. Quite not fair, right? Well, for the majority of us, it is fair. The India is politics and not its people.

Ayushman's best work so far with no flaw as such. The North-east crew was quite brilliant. I loved the way they hid the state name and all jeeps had NE on their name plates. Great direction. Punchy dialogues. A bit lenghty and boring in the second half as the prologue of the movie in the first half was covered fantastically and it was all about executing that in the 2nd half with a bitter and gory war at 3 fronts. Won't give spoilers. Do not just join the bandwagon of that population which doesn't even watch and start criticizing just by seeing the names. A great movie buff decides all by himself. A must watch to know this side as well.

Film 'Anek' is the truth of this time. If you are living with the truth, then this film is a nightmare for you. It's a decent watch. If political thrillers fascinate you, it might as well be your weekend pick. However, if you were to go keeping the same expectation as Article 15, then you might return disappointed. But we would like you to keep the two films distinct and enjoy both as two separate dishes. Who knows, Anek might actually be the conversation starter yet again in the era of political thrillers.

While Sinha has become a master with his combination of presenting a social issue while making it engaging and entertaining, that becomes a hit-and-miss here with Anek to an unfortunately large extent. It is still a brave attempt overall and most importantly, does spark dialogue as it intended to.