Sehar Review

"Welcome To Uttar Pradesh!"

This is what exactly debutant director Kabeer Kaushik does when he begins narrating 'Sehar'. He takes you about a decade back in time when the state of UP was beginning to get engulfed in the ugly world of "organized crime". A kind of crime when power was not meant to be distributed. Instead it was meant to be 'varjasv' which means total power. The power that cannot be taken or given. It can only be 'earned'.

Kaushik opens the cards in the very first sequence when the reigning mafia don [who is also a doting family man] is killed in broad daylight by upcoming don Gajraaj [Sushant Singh], who is in lookout for 'absolute power'. The first step for this is gaining railway tenders running in millions for which a number of parties are in fray.

This is where SSP Ajay Kumar comes into picture who has already been transferred 14 times in his 6 years of duty. Along with him comes his mother [Suhasini Mulay], who is disappointed at the changing face of her city U.P.

An upright officer with high morals and self esteem, he understands the functioning of mafia quite well and doesn't even entertain rivals of Gajraaj who approach him with the complaints. Why? Because he doesn't respect them either and wants his department to solve the crime by itself.

In his mission of eliminating the organized crime from the land of UP, he is supported by the IDG inspite of his earlier apprehensions regarding the 'system'. He proposes an idea of forming a Special Task Force [STF] that would comprise of committed officers who do not require any permission before they shoot.

Though the idea is earlier shot down by the people in power [read bureaucrats], once the idealistic Chief Minister's NRI friend is killed and his grandson kidnapped, there is a go-ahead given for the formation of the STF. All hell breaks loose from hereon as the world of crime is brought to a limping state by this efficient team of 8-10 police officers.

But this is not enough as there is something more that threatens to nullify their attempt at finishing off the crime and criminals - introduction of cellular services that had just begun in 1997. Since there was no way of tapping the calls happening on cell phones, the services of an electronics professor [Pankaj Kapur in yet another great role after 'Dus'] are used who helps them beat the mafia with their own technology.

How the STF goes about eliminating the world of organized crime from hereon takes the story to a new 'sehar'!

One of the most positive movies ever made on the functioning of police force, 'Sehar' is strikingly different from the movies of similar genre like 'Ardh Satya', 'Shool', 'Khakee' or 'Dev'. While most of these mentioned movies were good in their own way, they relied a lot on sermonizing too. But not with 'Sehar', which is more of execution rather than any speeches or confrontations with the seniors or politicians. And this is exactly what Ajay Kumar says while trying to prove a point - "The idea is to finish the job. Phir Tareeka Chaahe Jaisa Bhi Ho (in whatever way it is possible)".

There are no stereotype inclusions in the movie like a mafia don trying to buy the SSP into confidence or any unnecessary attacks on him on the streets. The entire script has been kept extremely near to reality hence bringing the city of Lucknow live on the screens. In fact the outdoor shoots of Lucknow have been wonderfully shot with an earthy feel throughout. Even a few aerial shots of the city give an altogether different feel to the narrative.

The movie maintains a good pace throughout with events unfolding after every 15 minutes. There is a lot happening during the entire duration of the movie with characters c