Film: Contract
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Producers: Ajay Bijli, Sanjeev K Bijli, Praveen Nischol
Banner: PVR Cinema & Ace Movie Company
Presenter: PVR Pictures
Cast: Adhvik Mahajan, Prasad Purandare, Sakshi Gulati, Vineet Sharma, Sadia Siddiqui Saurabh Mahajan Amruta Khanvilkar, Zakir Hussain, Sumeet Nijhawan, Ranjeev Verma, Upyendra Limaye, Amruta Subhash, Vikas Srivastav, Rajendra Nirman
Rating: 1.5/5
Many wished, hoped and prayed for an RGV revival with Contract. Post Sarkar Raj’s mixed reactions; Contract was a litmus test for him. Will he raise above all the Go’s and Darling’s and Aag’s and return to the form of Shiva, Satya and Company? The promise of Sarkar Raj pointed towards a hopeful positivism but the release of Contract has dashed all hopes.
Contract seems like one from the long line of terrorism-related, underdog-espionage movies made by incapable minds. An ex-army-man is recruited by a police officer to infiltrate an underworld with links to terrorist organizations in order to nab the terrorist. Interestingly, the terrorist in question is the same one who was responsible for the ‘ex’ status in the man’s army career. A bomb blast and the subsequent deaths of his wife and child ultimately drive him to accept the offer and thence start his fight against terrorism that refuses to end even with the film.
Although, proclaimed to give a ring-side view of the underworld meets terrorism nexus, the movie does nothing but provide a rehash of the n-number of movies that deal with either of the two, including RGV’s own. Stereotyped dons, caricatured police officials, necessary accessories like bureaucrat-hanger-ones, Asian martial arts champs and beautiful but lonely babes abound in this saga meant to complete the trio with Satya and Company.
The film is let down by a number of factors. Number one being the story, it has no solid plot, no beginning, middle and end that would justify the telling and hearing of it. The screenplay is a tad bit too convenient creating predictable obstacles and solutions so simple the whole thing looks like a child’s play. The danger’s of walking into a Don’s den for an undercover man-on-a-mission are plenty but here it seems like it’s a tried and tested formula that cannot go wrong whatsoever. It merely showcases the mediocrity and lack of depth in film-making.
The central character played by Adhvik Mahajan is played rather tight-lipped. After Abhishek Bachchn’s sombre portrayal of a grim-action-oriented decision maker this seems to be the flavour of the season. The startling resemblance of the former to the latter is not dismissible either. Adhvik tries to instil certain gravity in his character but fails and his voice helps to worsen situations further.
Prasad Purandare as the cop who puts him on this mission is equally over-ambitious in his portrayal resulting in a performance that’s just trying so hard. What’s a pity is that the film and its inadequacies reduces Zakir Hussain to playing his character as a caricature and thus kills the one hope that the film had. Sakshi Gulati and Sumeet Nijhawan are strictly average and Upendra Limaye does what he knows best, ham to his hearts content.
Its noticeable that not only the ambience, the tone of the film and the world of the characters is repetitive but so are other aspects. Music seems like it has been heard in every RGV movie. There is a difference between trademark and repetition. After Sarkar Raj, one almost feels betrayed with this one.
