A Wednesday - Movie Review

I'm quite keen on movies. Especially the ones about vigilantes. I find the whole mythology surrounding vigilantes fascinating. Take my favorite vigilante, the Everyman, as played by the inimitable Naseeruddin Shah in 'A Wednesday'. Not a very young hero. The movie is not particularly well-marketed. But the mythology... The mythology is not only great, it's unique. Now, a staple of the vigilante movie is, there's the vigilante and there's the back-story. Take as examples, the body of movies directed by Shankar. 'Indian' lost his daughter to corruption. 'Gentleman' lost his friend to the flawed educational system. 'Anniyyan' lost his sister to the indifference of the society or whatever. Nana Patekar in 'Prahaar' lost his officer to the goons of the society. When that character starts off, he is just an everyman oblivious to the evils of the society. He has to lose someone very close to him to open his eyes to the ills plaguing the system. After that he goes on to wreck vengeance on his villains in particular and take up the larger cause of the society in general. And it is in that characteristic the Everyman stands alone. The Everyman didn't become Everyman. Everyman was born everyman. When Everyman wakes up in the morning, and goes to the office, his wife calls up to enquire if he caught the train on time. When the Everyman is toiling his hours in the office, his wife calls to ask him if he finished his lunch. As Naseeruddin Shah so wonderfully explains, she is not asking him if he has finished his lunch; she is calling him to check if he is still alive - to see if he has not become yet another victim to yet another terrorist attack. The Everyman didn't need the mandatory back-story to wake up and do something about the problems surrounding him. The absence of the back-story made the movie much shorter and more powerful. 'A Wednesday' is how Everyman views the idea of each one of us needing a wake-up call to act. 'A Wednesday' is a critique on the whole genre of vigilante movies.

The last line of the movie qualifies to be the best last line of a movie ever.

The Commissioner of Police, again, wonderfully acted by an equally great actor, Anupam Kher, says something to the effect of, 'mein uska naam nahin boloonga. kyun ki log naam mein mazhab dhoond lete hai'. It poorly translates in English to 'I shall not reveal the name of this person, because people search for religion in a name'.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Weekdays.

Comments

[Swarna]

Sreeram and I loved and enjoyed watching a Hindi movie after a very very long time with this movie. I, once again, was proud of my adoration for Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher. This is the kind of movie that the current population needs, not just in India, but anywhere in the world! Every sentence that Shah speaks in this movie is true to its core. I bow down to this movie.

[Arvind Swarup Pathiki]

you know, Swarna, i once watched Naseeruddin Shah perform live on stage and it is one of my most amazing theatre watching experiences. his voice alone is mesmerizing. something like that of say, Morgan Freeman, if i can think of a hollywood comparison. not that a comparison is mandatory - but i always loved both their voices.

I watched the Telugu remake 'Eenadu' yesterday and with due respect to Kamal Hassan, i dont think the movie can hold a candle to the original. Of course there definitely are a few interesting scenes but that is that.

[Swarna]

Morgan Freeman! Oh my! You are right at the mark! Their voices, just like you said, leave an impression. I know Amitabh's voice is also in the same category, but somehow I adore Shah and Freeman more :)

I just heard yesterday about the Tamil and Telugu versions of the movie. And as soon as I realized that Kamal was in Shah's role, I immediately deduced the movie would be a total let-down! Kamal Hassan has tremendous talent, but is nowhere a match to Shah or Kher! I say that Kamal should have retired loooooooong back!