Film: Sandeep aur Pinky Faraar
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Jaideep Ahalawat, Raghubir Yadav, Neena Gupta
Rating: 2 moons
You would expect with an interesting and intriguing title that gives a twist to the stereotypical male-female names, a thriller or a dark comedy will keep you hooked from the word ‘go’. However, Arjun Kapoor’s and Parineeti Chopra’s film Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar fails to do so. The slow pace of the narrative and lackadaisical writing make this film a snooze-fest. Director Dibakar Banerjee’s film has its heart in the right place as it touches on bank scams and the effect it has on elderly, who are victimized by them but just fails to make the cut.
Parineeti Chopra plays a successful banker named Sandeep Kaur, aka Sandy, who is on the run from her boss is out to get her killed. Arjun plays Pinkesh, aka Pinky, a suspended cop from the Haryana Police who is sent to kill her. However, a turn of events brings the two protagonists together and Pinky comes to Sandy’s rescue. The first half establishes their characters and charts their journey to the Indo-Nepal border where they are given asylum by an elderly couple played by Neena Gupta and Raghubir Yadav. The so-called suspense is lifted just before the intermission leaving you to wonder what is left to fathom in the second half.
Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar had a good premise and deal in capitalism and class divide. The story also seemed powerful but the slow pace kills the suspense and the thrill one generally attributes to a black comedy. This is the third film of Parineeti and Arjun together after Ishaqzaade and Namaste England, but their chemistry is weakest here.
Parineeti, once again proves her acting mettle in Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar. She shoulders the film almost entirely and once again gives a kickass performance. It is difficult to find faults with her Sandeep and she expertly portrays a multi-layered character with aplomb. She manages to keep the curiosity about her story intact in the film. Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar is essentially her film and she leads from the front.
On the other hand, Arjun’s performance is extremely lacking in the film and we can term it as one of his worst ever. He hams through his dialogues and does a poor job emoting on screen. Although he does justice to the look of the character but in several places it seems he has let himself go. Since the film was made almost four years ago, he looks out of shape and the acting department needs a lot of work. His Haryanvi accent is good though and he sounds almost natural. Arjun’s character only makes a mark in the climax scene where he literally steps out of his comfort zone.
The supporting cast of Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav and Jaideep Ahlawat prove why they are so revered in the industry. Even though bound by a weak script they fuel life onscreen and manage to rise above the mediocrity. Neena and Raghubir are stellar acts and quite relatable as the elderly couple. Ahlawat does not have many scenes in the film, which makes you pine for him.
There is only one song in the film composed by Anu Malik and that too will not exactly stay with you once you leave the theatre. One of the weakest points of the film is its background music which should actually be the backbone of a good suspense thriller, but here it just plain disappoints. However, Anil Mehta’s cinematography is spectacular and deserves full marks. He manages to expertly capture the pristine beauty of Indo-Nepal border.
There were lots of expectations from Dibakar Banerjee’s direction. However, everyone must fall sometimes in their lives and Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar will definitely be his bane. The direction could have been tauter and crisper and the pace a tad quick to give you that adrenaline rushes while watching a suspense thriller. Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar is a classic case of good premise losing its way over lackluster and uninspired writing. If it had stuck to being a suspense thriller it might have worked, but the film wanted to be too many things, hence falls flat on its face.
PeepingMoon.com gives Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar 2 Moons.
