Thar

A veteran cop sees the chance to prove himself when murder shakes up a sleepy desert town, sending him into the seedy underbelly of the town as he attempts to uncover a grisly torture plot.

A toothless revenge drama/thriller that can be described by that popular idiomatic expression I.e. 'all show and no go'. Now look, I don't mind creators settling on common templates nor do I care if a certain film has been influenced by some Western features or not, instead, what I do expect though is an unambiguously penned narrative that can lay out the shenanigans of vengeance in a somewhat engrossing manner.

For a tale of comeuppance, it's rather imperative to have a commanding narrative as well as a set of constructive character developments. However, in this case, it had none! "Thar" might have had naive intentions in its heart but looking at the denouement, it has to be pointed out that their plans didn't go as intended. Apart from the obvious technological competencies (including the commendable aspects of Gore & Violence), and a couple of decent to fine performances, I find nothing worth your precious time down here.

While the parched setting and the cinematography (by Shreya Dev Dube) are definite positives, the bland writing, familiar plot beats, and the overall failure of the performances to make us root for a single character, let alone the protagonist(s), pull the film down to an average fare. Written differently, this could have been a gripping thriller set within the vast expanse of the desert. The final reveal fails to add anything substantially new, and we still know very little about Harshvarrdhan Kapoor's forever-wooden character. Anil Kapoor, being the seasoned performer, does alright. Fatima Sana Sheikh adds yet another confused character to her filmography.

Hindi film review: Thar streaming on Netflix #sanjuzzreviews #tharfilm #netflixindia

Directed by Raj Singh Choudhary and produced by Anil Kapoor & Anurag Kashyap Thar is a visual treat indeed. This is a rare film where the raw beauty of the rustic countryside plays an important role in enhancing the narrative immensely.

Set in a small sleepy town in Rajasthan on the Indo-Pak border, Surekha Singh ( Anil Kapoor) is the inspector on the verge of retirement along with is lower cast man Friday Bhura ( Satish Kaushik).

The peace and quiet of the town is disrupted with the coming of Siddharth ( Harshavardhan Kapoor), supposedly an antique dealer. Gruesome murders start to happen with the needle of suspicion pointing towards the stranger and also the drug smugglers operating in that area. Is the stranger hiding something or are the killings related to drug smuggling ? This is what our protagonist has to decipher along the way.

Anil Kapoor is the star and carries the film on his shoulders all the way .Satish Kaushik too is brilliant, adding a doze of humor to the otherwise laidback narrative. Harshvardhan Kapoor and Fathima Sana Sheikh too have done well.

The whodunit part is revealed quite early in the film. "why were the murders committed" is the key question here.

Not difficult to guess though !! Surprise element is missing.

This is a great experiment by the makers in integrating the wild west in the Indian backdrop. Definitely a refreshing change from the dubbed South Indian films which have recently flooded the market.

If you have enjoyed watching films like Manorama: 6 feet under, Gulaal and Lal Kaptaan this one is for you.

3/5 for this one .. adios!! 🙂

This movie was somewhat refreshing and different from many of the boring movies normally churned out by Bollywood and other so called " woods " of India. Did not know that Harshvardhan Kapoor was Anil Kapoor's son, till after watching this film. Anil Kapoor, Fatima Sheik did rather believable acting. The major jarring issue felt was was perhaps Harshvardhan is ' gifted '; with woody expression (almost similar to Sunny Deol in the good old days). The revenge story was very believable and genuine, depicting a woman who was wronged by uncouth, brutal savages. The depiction of still existing patriarchal mind set in Indian society is very genuine. One of the antagonist is not a happy man because his wife is infertile. Here, he cannot even remotely consider the probability that maybe he is sterile or that he is shooting ' blanks '. The rape, torture and mutilation of the protagonist's wife is similar to the new Delhi Nirbhaya Rape / Murder case (2012). It may seem that the torture of the antagonists was a tad too realistic. Same can be said for the initial intercourse scene. People cursing is also a bit much for a mainstream movie. The lack of training of the Policemen was very clearly indicated. In the movie they are seen armed with ancient rifles. In fact this is reality of the Police Force in India. The rugged and dry beauty of Rajasthan Desert (Thar) is filmed very beautifully. Altogether the movie was quite ' different ' than the run of the mill commercial ones.