Bengali audience has become so multiplex oriented that they do not consider crowd pleasing films to be cinema, in the first place. On one hand when filmmakers have complained about Bengali films losing shows to other big budget releases and requested the audience to stand by Bengali cinema and show their support, Dev, it seems like, had other plans all along. Directed by Soojit Dutta, produced by Surinder Films and Dev himself, Khadaan stars Dev, Jisshu Sengupta, Barkha Bisht, Idhika Paul, Anirban Chakrabarti and John Bhattacharya in lead roles, and Sujan Mukherjee in a supporting role.
Basic Plot - Shyam Mahato (Dev), a Bangladeshi immigrant, along with Mohan Das (Jisshu Sengupta), a Vaishnavite, become best friends and take their coal smuggling business to another level in Damodar Valley.
Positives
Dev
Dev has made a comeback in the commercial zone and how. He pulls of his role with great conviction and looks terrific throughout the film. The film largely benefits from and relies on Dev's stardom, which proves the fact that the craze among the neutral audience to watch Dev in a commercial film never died. Apart from being terrific in the action scenes, Dev has been really convincing in the dramatic scenes as well. The beedi flipping during the action really gives you that kick in the pants feel and the axe flipping will definitely remind you of Schwarzenegger's iconic shotgun flip and reload from Terminator 2, but this is the bare minimum creative liberty that should be available to all, so no complains on that part. The acting performance that he delivers (even in a mass action film like this) is truly praiseworthy. Let it be the dialogue delivery, the rooted Bengali accent, the screen presence or the expressions, Dev aces them all in some fashion!
Performances and Music
The overall cast performances has been good with Jisshu being the surprise package for all the right reasons. He is splendid as Mohan Das and has really shown his capabilities in a big scale film like Khadaan. Anirban Chakrabarti shines as well in a comparatively smaller role and the performances from Barkha Bisht and Sujan Mukherjee have been decent. Idhika Paul and John seemed average. The music however has been nice. The songs are nice and so is the background score by Rathijit Bhattyacharya, which gives you a proper mass film vibe. The bgm has the adrenaline rush, the dramatic portions and the terrific beats as well which elevates every scene to a new high.
Technicalities, Screenplay and Direction (partial)
The camera work by Shailesh Awasthi has been fantastic. The scenes are very well shot with several nice camera angles. There are some continuous long shots, a 360 shot during the mud fight in the second half and several action scenes which are easily at par with several similar themed big budget films. The screenplay is quick in the first half, a bit dull in the second half, only to rise again after a very well designed and shot raid scene in the second half of the film. The overall production value is visible in every frame of the film. One could easily tell that the budget has been spent wisely with no unnecessary grandeur for scenes which do not deserve a scale up. The overall look and feel is very rich and the film is terrific to watch on the big screen. Also, the director has done a good job in presenting Dev in the massiest way possible. His showcasing of Dev has been great and the overall direction seems to be a fresh take on Bengali commercial films.
Underwhelming Aspects
Superficiality and Direction (partial)
Although commercial films do not get along too much with detailing, there are instances in this film where things seem really shallow. The entire backdrop of the Damodar valley coal mine provides no specific USP to the story. The core plot, at times, feels like a template that has been conceptualized and set against the coal mine backdrop, only to let both the elements exist without much coherence. The core plot could be used, as it is, in a different gangster story and it would make no difference whatsoever. Also, the activities of the 'coal syndicate' isn't shown in the film which could've been a great addition. Just a couple of scenes would have been enough but the makers probably perceived themselves wise, in doing otherwise. The love angle seems to be a bit forced, owing to a rather shorter runtime of only 137 minutes. The friendship to die for between Shyam and Mohan is very hurriedly set up with haphazard editing in the first half and no space has been given to develop layers within the friendship that would've helped the climax. Hence, the viewers are forced to re-convince their POV during the climax, owing to just a couple of flashback scenes popping out of nowhere. Talking of the climax, the setup to the climax (pre-climax) isn't very convincing as it forces you to re-think and re-evaluate quite a few scenes early in the film. The events before the climax is not entirely convincing, and hence, feels more of a planned setup than an organic one. Also, the action seems to be quite nice in the first half but feels repetitive in the second half due to similar slow-mo effects and camera angles.
Conclusion
No film is perfect and Khadaan is no different. Khadaan has got some nuanced flaws which affect the overall impact of the film to a certain extent. It's like a proper feast of a dish served with a seasoning that could've been better. Nonetheless, Khadaan is still a very entertaining mass film with plenty of 'seeti-maar' and clap-worthy moments that keeps you thoroughly entertained. Khadaan is to Dev what Ghajini is to Aamir Khan, Rowdy Rathore is to Akshay Kumar, Wanted was to Salman Khan and very recently, Pathaan was to Shahrukh Khan; such a film whose imperfections go unnoticed due to the director's conviction and the sheer screen presence coupled with the comeback factor of the lead actor. Dev shows the plight and difficult livelihood of coal mine workers in the film which will definitely resonate with the proper single screen audience. That being said, Khadaan is a spectacle that should be experienced in the theatres, because, as they say, 'Baap esheche!'
Watch Out For
Jisshu Sengupta's performance in the climax.
WTF Recommendation
7/10