REVIEW: Just like the twist in its title, the story of Sandeep and Pinky is convoluted, crafty and conspicuous by the class divide that runs deep between its protagonists. Undoubtedly, these are good elements for a film that is projected as a suspenseful dark comedy, but this one only shows glimpses of it, in spurts. Like the opening scene that immediately grabs your attention and the intrigue that writer-director Dibaker Banerjee builds through the first-half, makes you sit up and take notice. Here, we’re only given flashes of how, what and why, a very discreet Sandeep aka Sandy is being chased by her boss and Pinkesh aka Pinky is reluctantly trying to save her. But as the film’s second act rolls, the not-so-shocking suspense is revealed and we’re then left with repetitive and excruciatingly slow exchanges between the characters. Banerjee tries to weave in various underlying themes that represent the many Indias that co-exist within the nation. From bloodsucking bank scams that target the country’s poor to the privileged and educated corporates for whom people are just numbers. While Dibakar cleverly relates the massive bank scam to an old couple in rural India, the film’s languid pace and erratic writing takes its toll on almost everything. Even on the sweeping shots of a picturesque town on the Indo-Nepal border captured beautifully by Anil Mehta.
Performance wise, it’s a Parineeti show all the way. She gets an ample scope to live Sandy’s multi-layered character, who is strong yet vulnerable and insecure. Parineeti gives it all to make Sandy’s intricate and hard-to-read persona likeable and her performance is one of the few factors that hold the film’s uneven narrative together. Sadly, for Arjun Kapoor, his character doesn’t enjoy the same detailing, leaving him with little to work with. He manages to go out of his comfort zone, especially in his last scene. Among the character actors, Raghubir Yadav and Neena Gupta are endearing and effortless in portraying the millions of Indian couples for whom patriarchy is a way of life. Jaideep Ahlawat’s act as the scheming top cop has nothing noteworthy. While there is just one song (a loud and unmelodious title track by Anu Malik), the film’s melancholic and surreal background score is let down by the overall lack of substance in its narrative.
‘Sandeep and Pinky Faraar’ is one of those neo-noir films that set out with a promise to engage, entertain and educate by slowly unraveling its layered subtext. But with its preposterous execution and frustratingly slow pace, it’s the audience who might want to escape, much before Sandeep and Pinky.
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