Movie: Traffic
Dir: (Late) Rajesh Pillai
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Divya Dutta, Jimmy Sheirgill, Parambrata Chatterjee, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Kitu Gidwani, Sachin Khedekar
What's it about:
Anybody who's witnessed Mumbai's traffic during peak hours knows what a pain it is to get from point A to B in time. Now imagine a journey from Mumbai to Pune, after braving the same traffic, only this time with a heart that needs to be transplanted in record time.
It is an accident that brings the main characters in this film together. A rookie reporter Rehan Ali (Vishal Singh), out for his first big interview — of arrogant superstar Dev Kapoor (Prosenjit) — becomes the victim of a hit-and-run incident. He's rushed to the hospital, but is soon declared brain dead. Dev's daughter has a heart defect and is up for a transplant. Rehan's parents are prevailed upon to give up his heart for donation to the little girl, in a hospital in Pune, some 150km away. The transportation of the organ becomes an issue and neither a jet nor a chopper is available for use. A chat with a senior traffic police commissioner Gurbir Singh (Jimmy) reveals that the traffic is no trifling matter, and that it's something of an impossible task. He is prevailed upon to do what he can, and he asks his subordinates if anyone has any ideas.
A suspended constable Ramdas Godbole (Manoj), back on duty, offers to drive the car to its destination, with Rehan's best friend and a heart surgeon Abel (Parambrata) offering to tag along. The ride is nothing short of adventurous and fraught with dangers of all kinds. Does the girl get the heart in time?
What's hot:
The conflicts of interests are something we can all relate with. The story has potential, the film is shot with a real-time effect, the screenplay has its moments and some scenes are quite tautly captured and have the desired effect.
What's not:
When making a thriller and populating it with characters, an audience has to be keenly aware and invested in the emotions of everybody concerned. And for some reason, that just doesn't happen in Traffic to the degree that one expects it to. The performances are mostly middle-of-path. There are instances when you feel the twists and turns the film takes, deviate from flow far more than the actual obstacles Godbole and company face. Also, one has to ask, cynically enough, were Dev not so well-connected, would as many risks be taken by Gurbir?
What to do:
The film has its heart in the right place, but the soul isn't along for the trip. The film had the potential to do much, much better, but gets stuck, ironically, in the traffic of its own making.
Rating: **1/2
