 Do good ideas always result into great outcome? Sometimes yes, sometimes no! 'The Film' is one such flick that falls in between the two extremes. It's not great cinema but it is no pushover either. It entertains, is thought provoking, surprises you at times but then is not as tout throughout its duration as one had initially expected. Writer-director Junaid Memon does well for a debut film and sends the message across that 'shortcuts' and 'crime never pays' but somehow the final outcome makes you wonder if the script tried to be a bit too smart!
'The Film' begins on a fine note with the introduction of seven prime protagonists. Each of them is a struggler living as paying guests with Aunt Braganza [Sulbha Deshpande] - writer Sushmita [Mahima Chaudhary], assistant director Vijay [Khaled Siddiqui], musician Raman [Ravi Gosai], lyricist Irfan [Vivek Madan], singer Nandini [Ananya Khare] and actors Ankita [Chahat Khanna] & Aditya [Vaibhav Jhalani]. First couple of reels establish the struggle each of the seven is going through and how they tend to challenge any compromise coming their way.
The movie takes a turn for better as soon as director K. K. Dutta, the director with whom Vijay is an assistant director, gets an extortion call from Shamim bhai. Movie picks up from here with exposure of big film makers, financer, underworld connections and the subsequent association of fear. There is no looking back from here on as frustrated from lack of any good break, the seven hatch a plan! Spearheaded by Sushmita, they plan to use Shamim's name to extort money from diamond merchant Sharat Shah so that they could make a film of their own!
As amateurs, they somehow manage to extort money but in the bargain loose sleep. While the cops are after them, men from Shamim and the rival gang are after them. Bodies start tumbling one after another until a secret is revealed......
'The Film' fluctuates between various genres. From the 'bonding' between seven friends to Bollywood in general to casting couch to underworld-filmmakers-financers nexus to drama and to an extent even slasher thriller! While Memon as a writer-director has done justice to most of the film, it is the portions soon after the interval and the climax that are far from convincing. Picture this - soon after committing an extortion and in the process knocking off a cop, all seven of them are shown tense and in absolute disarray. But within minutes they all break into a song'n'dance. Agreed that they are requested by their landlady to do so but still it doesn't register.
 Mahima's character is such that from her first couple of scenes itself, one can sense the way she is heading, hence the climax comes as no surprise. The worst part is that the way the 'motive' and the 'execution plan' has been detailed, it seems that committing such a well laid out plan is a child's play. All the episodes in the story have been shown to be tied so well with each other that it is too good to be true. And this is where the script tending to be too smart for itself comes into picture. Things become so predictable at one point of time that you know who is going to die next!
Still, for most of the part, the movie goes on a path where it is headed for. One can see a strong Ram Gopal Verma effect, especially in the sequences where underworld makes an appearance. Focus towards telling a story without adding any unnecessary commercial ingredients is quite visible that works quite well for a movie of this genre.
Performances are mostly average with none of the actors 'standing out' per se. Each of them have a role to play and they do so with right earnest, though with varied results. Mahima Chaudhary is fine but that's about it. Khaled is likeable [though his dialogue delivery is shaky at times] and has a personality of a hero so it is surprising to see him in a director's role while the hero's role being played by Vaibhav Jhalani, who is just average. Chahat Khanna is just passable and though she is said to be making her debut with this film, she already has been seen in '7 1/2 Phere'.
Vivek Madan is OK. Ravi Gossain is good and comes with varied range of expressions. Ananya Khare overacts at places, especially during her outburst sequence before her death. Naseer Abdullah as a tough cop brings more laughs [unintentional though!] than fear due to his gawky body language and dialogue delivery. Sulbha Deshpande is good. Mukesh Khanna, Satyen Kappu, Ravi Baswani and Rakesh Bedi are as usual. Ruby Bhatia with her fake accent is avoidable. Irrfan Khan gives the voiceover for Shamim and sounds good.
Music by Samidha-Khalid sounds good in the album but after watching the movie, it is only 'Khatra Hai' that stays on with you. Production values of the movie are quite low and that shows in the sets [average] and cinematography [dull at times]. Editing is crisp in the first half and mediocre in the second, especially towards the latter half when the entire group if on a run. Action is okay.
'The Film' is a fine attempt but a first timer at the helm of affairs shows. Everything from basic storyline, concept to the messaging is alright, but the movie starts loosing its sheen towards the latter reels. Average performances do not helm the cause either. If you are interested in the happenings inside of Bollywood then catch the movie once it is out on DVD.
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