Praveen Lulekar
Rege
is one of those films that thoroughly
depress you. So if you say films should reflect society, here is the mirror.
Call it pessimism, realism or simply ‘not for the holiday season’, this is a
film that boldly shows what’s under the fat belly of our system. It is crafty
in narration and extremely dark in effect.
The film proceeds in two narratives. The
present shows a crime branch cop Pradeep Sharma (Mahesh Manjrekar) being tried
for an encounter. His assistant Sachin Waze (Pushkar Shrotri) is using every
weapon in his armoury – bribes, fear, favours and more encounters, to save his
boss. In the flashback, we see Aniruddha Rege (Aaroh Welankar), a final year
medical student, getting attracted to and consequently trapped in the clutches
of underworld. Open ends of the two stories keep meeting as the story progresses.
The biggest problem a viewer might face
is the criss-cross narrative. The second thread is further divided into two
tracks – one, of the actual entrapment of Rege and other of the police
investigating him. The screenplay writers keep shuffling between the three
narratives and it can be at times tough to keep up. But it all gets sorted (if
you can call it ‘sorting’) and you discover the frightening story under the
grim scrrenplay.
Apart from this consciously built
suspense, the film is extremely realistic in its treatment. Its greatest
victory is that it never allows you to take sides; if you start believing Rege
is a victim, you see his fascination for the bhais. If you see Sharma finishing crime, you are startled to see
the coldness with which he takes bribes.
Director Abhijeet Panse goes really
close to the way in which police treat criminals, their investigation style,
the ways in which they bribe and how natural and everyday all this is for them.
After an encounter, a constable says wearily – ‘That guy is a Nepali; we can’t
send his body there right? Just mention ‘unclaimed’ in the report.’
It is this subtle quality that does not
make the film preachy or ‘about’ corruption. Corruption, in fact, is a
secondary part; it is about people seeking to get their way. Whatever doesn’t
fit in the system, we have a way round to it. Out of that, another system
emerges – one where the police are connected to the businessmen, the
businessmen to the judiciary and criminals and the criminals back to the police.
It’s a scary nexus!
Panse, a politician himself, however
refrains from showing a greater political involvement. We do see glimpses of
the Shivsena at a few places; favourably or otherwise, we don't know. Sigh!
Two important technicians play vital
role in the narration – Monty Sharma (background score) and Mahesh Limaye
(Cinematography). Sharma does a terrific job of giving many scenes their
gravity; he quite intelligently understands the pace of every situation. Credit
also goes to Panse, who chooses his moments of quite background and saves the
music from being overused. Limaye has again emerged as the ace who amplifies
the effect with some stunning frames. The night sequences, especially, are
beautifully taken with creative use of lights.
Amongst the actors, Manjrekar takes away
the larger piece of the cake. He has the wittiest dialogues and the arrogant
Sharma reflects every bit in the actor. On a different note, however, Manjrekar
seems to be getting trapped in these kinds of roles and needs to pursue more
variety. Shrotri has also maintained a really good air as the wily negotiator.
Theatre actor Welankar, debuting with the film, fits into the role perfectly.
It is a general mentality to go to
theatres to ‘enjoy ourselves’. Escapism is kind of a synonym of our mainstream
cinema. On the other hand, we dismiss films that take up a social cause as
boring. Rege is a challenging recipe;
it is compelling yet dark in equal measures. Can you digest it?
m4m Says: A Must Watch
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