John Day

Ahishor Solomon's 'JohnDay' is Gripping In Parts, but not entirely. Reason? An Erratic Screenplay & Slow-Pacing. Had this vendetta fare had a strong Screenplay & a better pace, I'm sure, it would've developed into a much superior film.

'JohnDay' Synopsis: JohnDay loses his daughter & later realizes her death was a part of a conspiracy led by corrupt cops & gangsters.

To give its due, 'JohnDay' begins superbly & has a power-packed first-hour, though the pacing is consistently slow-paced. The second-hour falters badly, the sequences don't leave a mark, the pacing gets even slower & the culmination is plain ordinary. Also, the excessive violence puts you off completely. Yet, all said & done, A better Screenplay & better pacing were certainly needed! Ahishor Solomon's Direction is noteworthy. Cinematography is grim. Editing is dull.

Performance-Wise: Naseeruddin Shah as JohnDay, adds anger but absolutely no depth to the character. Randeep Hooda is much better. He delivers a ferocious performance as the corrupt, evil cop. Vipin Sharma, also portraying a corrupt cop, is incredibly loathsome. Sharat Saxena is electrifying. He portrays a strong supporting role with absolute flourish. Elena Kazan is okay. Shernaz Patel is terrific. Makarand Deshpande & Deepak Shirke are outstanding in cameos.

On the whole, 'JohnDay' has merit, but it never quite reaches the goal it targeted.

The posters of this film had a tag line "An edge of the seat thriller by the producer of A Wednesday" and they were also designed in a style reminding you of that path breaking film of 2008 right away. The artwork had two men standing against each other just like A Wednesday with a strong common factor of Naseeruddin Shah catching your instant attention as desired. So the first job to make the viewers interested in this not so big, off beat kind of thriller was well done by the makers and a particular section did become eager to watch it expecting another fine film from the same production house as conveyed.

But unfortunately, JOHN DAY scores very less as a gruesome crime thriller and serves you nothing electrifying in this particular genre to fulfill the expectations raised. It begins on a very slow, calm and uninteresting note with no gripping sequences coming in for a very long time. As a result, all excitement is lost within the first 30 minutes itself, which was not really expected from the makers of A Wednesday. The pace is too lazy till the interval and the film simply fails to establish any kind of connect with the viewers waiting for something explosive. Post interval too the actors keep suffering due to the bad script but the pace does pick up in its last 30 minutes, which thankfully offer you something to keep sitting in the theater. Otherwise it remains a pretty avoidable venture throughout wasting the volcanic talent of Naseer along with all the other known actors in the star-cast.

Playing the tough, corrupt cop, Randeep does try to put up an intense show with few of his cruel scenes, including the one wherein he eats out the tongue of a criminal and another where he simply smashes the face of an informer like a mashed-up apple. But surprisingly, the same cannot be said about Naseeruddin Shah who simply plays it just like another unimportant assignment accepted in his available time. The supporting cast gives you nothing great to mention specifically, except Vipin Sharma who once again sends up a clear reminder to the industry that he is simply waiting for that one life-transforming role to showcase his unexplored skills eagerly.

Rightly made as a song-less venture, both its background score and camera work try real hard to give you a feeling of watching something off-beat, moving ahead of the usual crime thrillers on the lines of A Wednesday. But in absence of anything substantial in its script, content or execution, they are not able to save the film from sinking and all we have is only few engaging moments towards the end and nothing more than that. The suspense build up fails to keep you glued and the revelations are not made in any convincing style which ideally form the backbone of an exciting crime thriller talking about conspiracies. Interestingly as a first, the project has a 'Smoking Warning' displayed throughout the film till the end which is indeed a debatable way to tackle the Censor restrictions put on the issue.

Now coming to the key negative feature of JOHN DAY, the film is once again an unofficial rip-off from a Spanish film LA CAJA 507 or BOX 507 released in 2002. Honestly, a few scenes directed by the debutant Ahishor Solomon are comparatively more engaging than the original movie. Yet they cannot be presented as an excuse or argument supporting any 'copy-act' like this at all. Actually, the moment one comes to know about the copied status of such a film, all its (few) merits turn into demerits and you are not able to praise any kind of superlative effort made by the director whole heartedly. Ahishor has got the talent and he can surely come up with a gripping crime thriller as his next in all possibilities. But talking about his present JOHN DAY, it doesn't deliver what it promises in its promotional campaign and posters, so better watch it when its there on the TV channels in a few weeks time and play it safe.

How much of JohnDay you would like depends on the quantum of on screen blood and gore you can assimilate.Produced by Anjum Rizvi(A Wednesday) and directed by Ahisor Solomon, this thriller examines the transformation of a saint to a beast and the thin blurred line which divides their psyche in the cold brutal world with no comic relief.

JohnDay(played by Naseeruddin Shah),a bank manager by profession, and a doting father loses his daughter in a brush fire and years later serendipitously discovers the fire was not the result of an accident but rather subterfuge. John swears revenge and finds himself embroiled in a web of intrigues involving corrupt bureaucrats, Mafiosos and other criminal elements which also includes the nihilistic cop with a terrible past,Gautam(Randeep Hooda).

Solomon unfurls the suspense quite lazily.The motivations of the characters are never revealed,is deeply layered and this well-crafted drama gets busy and stays busy with a coolly cerebral approach which avoids extremes of emotion,romance, and other visceral appetizers though there is blood letting aplenty.In one scene we see the almost-psychopath cop,Gautam tearing off the tongue of a criminal and devouring in the sadistic pleasure when blood squirts out of his mouth.In another one,John in a move of self-protection, bites and rips apart the neck of one of the goons who is recklessly after his life. Now this is definitely not for the faint-hearted !

John Day assembles the impeccable Naseeruddin Shah and the intriguing Randeep Hooda in the cat-and-mouse chase and both are equally sincere in their performances. A rather-talented Shernaz Patel who plays Shah's wife ,disappointingly, spends almost all her reel hours as a comatose while Vipul Sharma,playing Hooda's apprentice, gets his act right. Makrand Deshpande and Bharat Dhabolkar make pleasing cameos in this inky kingdom of betrayal,power-play and greed.

An edgy plot of the doomed and the damned,I would recommend JohnDay for those who fathom violence and profanity with the same cynical alert that Hooda's character throws at his prey , while stuffing biriyani till the latter suffocates in despair," Tu Dal-Chawal kha, Biriyani tere bas ki baat nahin hai"

JohnDay is a thriller flick starring Naseruddin Shah and Randeep hooda in lead roles, a debut directorial venture for Ahishor Solomon.The story begins with death of Naseruddin's daughter in some estate known as Casablanca and then follows the delineating of the entire plot and the characters involved in it...

JohnDay is yet another attempt by bollywood to make sensible movies following movies like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag,Special 26 and Madras Cafe this year.But unfortunately ,the director here has failed to do the same justice to the subject.The first half of the movie is awesome,and will make you think and deduce conclusions but the other half and the climax disappoint you to the earnest...The climax and the conclusion seem to be totally extraneous and abjured from the script...Given that, the movie does have its high ends especially the violent scenes-they are brutally depicted, violence at its very best in bollywood...Also a slight political theme is added which serves well for the sake of the plot...

The Screenplay is totally distorted in the second half where the unfolding of suspense is done quite early.The background score is brilliant sometimes but lacks intensity otherwise.Camera work and editing is good...There is no song in the movie which is highly imperative and conducive to the movie...There are some mind-blowing dialogs throughout the movie...

As far as performance are concerned, Naseruddin Shah does not deliver up to his potential best maybe due to his simple role.Randeep Hooda is the star of the movie,he totally overshadows Naseruddin Shah.He is brutal, intense and not remorseful.Violent scenes are meticulously executed by him.But only drawback of his character he shifts gears at the end.A special mention to Pradeep Rawat for his mind-blowing performance...The rest of the cast does not impress especially Elena Kazan who seems to force her character...

So, coming to the verdict, JohnDay is a movie that will not be be liked by all. People who are fan of sensible and complicated plots and enjoy violent and brutal scenes must definitely watch it. Watch it for brilliant performances especially of Randeep Hooda.Had there been a suspense element in the movie and had the climax be executed perfectly, this movie would do justice to the otherwise brilliant concept and awesome acting...

I was extremely disappointed when he was holding to the cross and they were beating him, the movie was a real movie, no super heroes not a common Hindi movie that heroes fly and get shot ten times and survive, then suddenly they add a hidden power to it, like Jesus saves him...whats the chance in real life to be in a situation where you are being beaten by four gang members and SOME mysterious power saves you? You spoilt it, really, if from the beginning of the movie you had super powers we would not be surprised. But it looked like a real life scenario and suddenly added that silly scene. Its like you are eating Biryani and you get Rasgula in it.