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By Taran Adarsh, March 6, 2004 - 11:11 IST
An interesting story can sometimes miss the mark if the captain of the ship [director] fails to get the message across convincingly. That's precisely the case with INSAAF - THE JUSTICE.
An IAS officer, Prasad [Sanjay Suri], gets posted in a city in northern India, where he settles with his wife Kunti [Namrata Shirodkar]. Kunti becomes the object of lust for Bunty [Dayal], the son of a minister [Kunika]. Finding an opportunity, Bunty rapes Kunti. Prasad runs from pillar-to-post to seek justice, but in vain. Finally, out of frustration, he commits suicide.
The nation is stunned by this shocking development. The Union Home Minister appoints a high-level CBI team to investigate the issue. An IPS officer, Abhimanyu [Dino Morea], a man of proven integrity, is assigned the task to book the culprit. On his mission, he learns that 'the rape case was never registered at all' and the rapist is roaming scot free, while the victim is shunned by the society.
Abhimanyu stakes his life and career and along with his lady love Reena [Henna], an investigating journalist, nabs the culprit. The judiciary comes into action. But the rapist saves himself from the law thanks to his 'alliances'.
Finally, Abhimanyu comes out with the only resort. He instils strength and confidence in Kunti to face life and fight for justice. In a rage of fire, Kunti rises like phoenix from the ashes.
Viewers of Hindi cinema will recall that a number of films with a similar theme have been attempted in the past - where the victim gets even with the culprit in the end. Films like B.R. Chopra's INSAAF KA TARAZU and N. Chandra's PRATIGHAAT are two shining examples of films that presented the menace [rape] most effectively, without deviating from the core issue.
Unfortunately, INSAAF - THE JUSTICE suffers because debutante director Shrey Shrivasatav seems completely ill at ease handling a delicate issue in his maiden venture. The story he has opted for had scope for a lot of drama, but the writing [Sudhindra Subhash, Chinton Mokashi, Anant Balani] is so routine that the viewer can actually guess what the next sequence would be like. Even the dialogues are outright predictable.
The director's intentions get further diluted because the screenplay writing has loopholes aplenty. In fact, several questions remain unanswered till the very end. Even otherwise, the writers have relied too heavily on cliches to convey what they intend conveying.
Besides, the film moves at a snail's pace, gathers momentum, slows down again and picks up yet again towards the pre-climax. Now, this is all the more disturbing for the viewer who in any case has been subjected to an oft-repeated storyline.
The music [Nikhil-Vinay] is no great shakes either. In fact, given the theme of the film, INSAAF - THE JUSTICE should've been a songless film. In fact, the songs seem to have been inserted to provide some relief and divert your mind from a depressing issue. But, sadly, the ploy doesn't work. Cinematography [Nezeeb Khan] is alright.
Of the performances, Namrata Shirodkar does make an effort to enact her part with conviction. Sanjay Suri does not impress, partly due to a half-baked characterisation. Dino Morea is a complete miscast. Though the actor shows improvement in a few sequences, he just doesn't look the character he's been asked to portray. Henna is just about okay.
Kunika is average, while Dayal does not evoke terror - which Raj Babbar [INSAAF KA TARAZU] and Charan Raj [PRATIGHAAT] did so effectively.
On the whole, INSAAF - THE JUSTICE is a complete letdown. At the box-office, it just won't work!
 
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