Thar: Les trois cibles

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.

Nicely made. Good narration. Length of scenes is justified. Acting is ok.

Desi generation coming of age in terms of movie making. The movie is more about direction, cinematography, art work and camera work.

Not much story, which is simple and predictable.

In general Bollywood seems to be moving in right direction.

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!! 🙂