Shriram Iyengar
Mumbai, 20 Jul 2017 10:00 IST
Director Jatin Wagle has all the equipment in a fascinating plot and talented artistes but lets them all down with a half-baked climax.
Psychological thrillers are never easy to film. They require deep understanding of the human pscyhe and behaviour, and the skill to control the tension within the script. Director Jatin Wagle shows some positive signs of the first two skills but fails to control the tension within the screenplay of his fascinating psychological thriller, Manjha.
The film begins with the predictable atmosphere of a secluded college in Lonavala that has just seen a disastrous accident resulting in three fatalities. The mood changes with the arrival of a shy, introverted Jaideep (Rohit Phalke). Jaideep's arrival carries the baggage of his mother Samhidha's divorce from an abusive husband.
On the very first day, they strike a friendship with the charming, intelligent Vicky (Sumedh Mudgalkar). Soon, Vicky wriggles his way into their everyday life, helping out Jaideep, spending evenings at his house, and even charming Samhidha (Ashwini Bhave) out of her melancholy. But there is a vicious shadow behind Vicky's smiling facade.
Soon, Jaideep/JD finds himself getting sucked deeper into the web spun by Vicky. From little transgressions of staying out late to peeping into the girls' hostel, the violence escalates to Vicky's acts of throwing stones at speeding cars on the highway to his final declaration of wanting to rape and murder a girl. 'Hunt, or be hunted,' he explains his philosophy.
Tragically for JD/Jaideep, the girl Vicky sets his eyes on is Maya, a girl he likes, and loves.
While the rest of the world refuses to believe Jaideep, his mum takes his side, bringing the film to its climax.
The film has its high points. Sumedh Mudgalkar, as the sociopathic chameleon, is convincing. Magnetic and despicable in turns, the actor manages to keep your attention on the screen as long as he is present.
Rohit Phalke delivers a decent foil as the shy, scared Jaideep caught in the manipulative web. Ashwini Bhave is competent as the mother who finally takes on the violence against her and her child. The use of non-Marathi actors like Mohan Kapur and Denzil Smith makes the conversation seem out of place sometimes, but it feeds the urban nature of the script.
Director Jatin Wagle, who is also the writer of the film, allows it to build well. The story, though told well, does feel a little lacking in pace. The initial tempo takes some time to build up. However, Vicky's inclusion into the family and the slow peeling of his personality is realistic. The acting adds impetus to the dialogues, and storyline. Sumedh Mudgalkar and Rohit Phalke's camaraderie, jokes, and even mischievous boasts seem natural. It is one of the elements that make the character of Vicky so intriguing, as the viewer is unable to distinguish if his perverted and vicious boasts are real, or just bluster. That is where the magic of the plot lies.
However, by the interval, this magic is lost. Once the plot, and Vicky's personality is unveiled, the film struggles with the second-half syndrome. The climactic moment is easily predictable, and its execution leaves much to be desired. The final capture of the central antagonist of the film arrives after so much conversation that it feels incomplete.
Understandably, the final act in the sociopath's work, the rape-murder, is an uncomfortable topic to speak, or view, in the current age. But that act is necessary to establish him as the sociopath. Gabbar Singh was not feared because he made empty threats and fired bullets in the air. While the plot builds Vicky up as a sociopath, the audience does not see him commit a single crime, even the murders he confesses to. Eventually, the film ends in a Pahlaj Nihalani-approved 'sanskari' way with the message that he is not a criminal, just a lad needing psychological help.
Manjha has a lot of elements that make it watchable, primarily its batch of actors. However, the screenplay remains the weak link. A psychological thriller is not an easy genre. Indeed, it is one of the most difficult to pull off. Jatin Wagle fails to keep it tight after the interval, and lets it go completely to reach the conclusion. Incidentally, a key scene in the film has a psychologist comparing parenting to flying a kite, where holding the thread (the eponymous manjha) too loosely or too tightly would deter the kite's flight.
The director should have applied the same advice to his screenplay.