A Thursday that looks a lot like A Wednesday is a complete disaster. As I said in the title, the script looks like a first, unedited draft which needed more detailing and finishing.
This is again one of those films that I cannot review without not telling you the story. So, what’s A Thursday all about?
A Thursday Story (Plot)
Naina Jaiswal (played by Yami Gautam) is a school teacher who has kidnapped the kids of her own playschool. She then calls the police, informs them of the crime, and demands to speak only to Javed Khan (played by Atul Kulkarni). Now the case is handled by two officers, Catherine Alvarez (played by Neha Dhupia) and Javed Khan. Since this couple is now separated, their bitterness and ego clashes continue even at work. While Catherine handles the case aggressively, Javed Khan handles it sensitively trying to meet Naina’s demands for the sake of children’s safety.
Now, what are Naina’s demands? In her first demand, she asks for Rs 5 crore to be transferred to her bank account. Once the demand is met, she gives two names to Javed Khan and asks him to hand them over to her. No one knows who these men are and why Naina wants them in the house. Honestly, no one seems interested in knowing as well. But this second request pisses off Javed Khan and he asks her to keep the demands on the table, all at once. Following his instructions, she then immediately asks to speak to the Prime Minister of India. As soon as she gets to speak to the PM, she then demands to meet her in person.
Who is Naina Jaiswal? Why has she kidnapped the kids she is so fond of? What does it have to do with the Prime Minister? As you watch the movie, what unfolds is not at all unexpected. Every now and then, this plot keeps coming to your mind.
The answers to all the whys is that Naina was raped when she was in school and the rapists were still roaming free. The two men that she had demanded for were the culprits. And why does she want to meet the PM? Because she wanted to “DISCUSS” or let’s say, “REQUEST” a law for rape victims. The money that was initially transferred to her account also goes to the trusts that take care of rape victims’ rehabilitation.
This havoc just to ‘request’ for a law looks so idiotic. If she didn’t want to get things in place ‘on the spot’ with kidnapping and all the threatening and psycho thrills, she could have just run a social media campaign. That gets more things done than cheap thrills.
After all the hullabaloo, the conversation Naina has with the Prime Minister at the end is so casual. The points that she puts forth are nothing more than our daily discussions with friends and family. If you are making a film on a heinous crime like rape, your arguments cannot be from daily life. They have to be solid and impactful. A PM knows the number of rape cases. The government has better records than the common man. When they are still not willing to pass a law for the safety of women, why would they do it based on a regular chit chat with a kidnapper who is about to be arrested for a murder?
Performances and Direction
The plot was already flawed but the performances and direction? Lazy and lethargic! What can we expect from a director who could make an excellent actor like Atul Kulkarni look over-dramatic and amateur?
If I have to use one word for this film, I would call it clumsy.
From writing to editing and acting to direction, everything has been messed up.
When I speak of writing, I wonder why Neha Dhupia was shown as a pregnant cop? I do not know how our police force works but will it ever allow a pregnant woman to be on the field where her and her child’s life is at risk? I don’t think so, especially in the cases that get media attention.
Then there is this scene where Neha Dhupia is looking for evidence at Neha Jaiswal’s house. The first thing she does with her team is get access to Naina’s desktop. What does she find here? Scanned copies of last 15 years’ bills of antidepressants. If the lady was scanning the copies of all her medical bills, she might also have scanned the copies of prescriptions? Understood if she has not. But since she was still on medication and her pills were the latest, there must also be prescriptions in the house? Instead of looking for those to get information about Naina’s doctor, our very own super-intelligent cop calls her team and asks to get phone numbers of all the Dr Junejas (that’s the doctor’s name on the pharmacy bill) in the city. At the same time, she had also been shown to have gotten Naina’s mother’s information which means she could have taken all the Dr and medical history related details from Naina’s mother? Moving on…
Naina has also been shown to have killed a child. She does that on camera, by going live. But as expected, later, the child is shown to be alive. In that case, how did she manage to make the viewers believe that the child has been killed?
Honestly, the way this film is written and made – it’s all childish and absurd. Meaningless!
Streaming On: Disney+ Hotstar
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