Thar has got it all, barren lands, dead trees, ghost-like forts and a beautiful landscape. But what makes it worth the watch is the underlying themes and a strong plot that brings the movie together.
Directed by Raj Singh Chaudhary, he brings somewhat justice to the Western genre with his movie Thar. The movie is a slow burn, a murder mystery that'll keep you hooked on the screen throughout.
Quick Synopsis: A Veteran cop is given an opportunity to prove himself when a series of murders happen in the town of Munabao.
Before I begin with Thar, what is a Western genre? To keep it simple, the Western genre is set in the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century that was developed in the western United States. The western genre involves a deserted land, small towns, wilderness, resistance to modernism, outlaws, etc. Bollywood has been well known for its classic western genre-based films. The most popular being Ramesh Sippy's classic Sholay (1975), in current times we have Tigmanshu Dhulia's famous Paan Singh Tomar (2012) and Abhishek Chaubey's Sonchiriya (2019).
The movie takes place in 1985, in Munabao, Rajasthan. Munabao is a small town where the inhabitants are unaware of what change means. Simply struck by the daily monotony of their lives. There is a shot of water buffalo who seems to be alive in the beginning but as we inch closer to the movie we're faced with the reality. But Manubao is no stranger to crimes, we quickly jump on to the gruesome scene of a man hanging from a tree with an axe in his chest, his body seems to be severely tortured before being hung. We get to know the man's name to be Suwa (Akkshay Gunaawat). We're then switched to another scene. The night before Babita's (Anushka Sharma) wedding, where her family is shot by a dacoit by the name of Hanif khan (Rahul Singh). All the items that were supposed to be used as dowry were stolen as well. That's where the film's Jai-Veeru comes into the picture, Inspector Surekha (Anil Kapoor) and his fellow partner Bhure (Satish Kaushik). As they begin their search to find the culprit behind the murder and the looting, the plot thickens with the arrival of a mysterious man who goes by the name of Siddharth (Harshvarrdhan Kapoor).
Now I've pretty much watched all movies by Harshvarrdhan Kapoor, from Bhavesh Joshi Superhero to Spotlight (Ray). Just when I thought he couldn't get any better, in comes Siddharth. He is a businessman who has arrived in Manubao looking for three men in particular (Dhanna, Panna, and Kanwar) who could help him back in Delhi. Despite having fewer dialogues throughout the course of the film, Harshavarrdhan makes sure that the eyes of the viewers are glued to him. Actions speak louder than words and that is exactly what Siddharth's role did, he managed to keep that mystery to his character till the end of the movie and let his actions unfold his motives. A character that seemed to be unharmful turns out to be the ultimate monster, you can see that Harshvarrdhan definitely got into the skin of his character and camouflaged himself flawlessly. As opposed to his previous roles he does a great job in playing 'The Man with No Name' who seeks revenge in his own form.
Every murder mystery has a good cop. So here we have Inspector Surekha played by none other than the timeless Anil Kapoor. Inspector Surekha is your typical masculine cop, who has a stern demeanor. He is in the last stages of his career and wants to end it, if I may say, with a bang. Despite his character being a hot-headed, strong cop you can see the desperation in his eyes to solve the case. Anil Kapoor throughout the film gives you yet another reason why he is one of the most versatile actors (even after 4 decades). Surekha's character deals with the theme of classism. Despite being a well-reputed inspector, he still is in a dilemma and continuously questions his career path and always compares himself economically with others. There is a particular scene, where he asks his wife whether she's upset that he never got promoted to a higher position, to which she replies that she's content with what she has. You can see his tough personality break for a moment as tears well in his eyes yet prove again that Anil Kapoor is a gem in this industry.
When we talk about the themes in this movie, they are pretty simplistic. The way Raj has portrayed all his character's plights is commendable. We have Bhure played by the evergreen Satish Kaushik. A man who disguises his caste under the big bulky uniform as that makes him a figure to fear than to be looked down upon. In one of the scenes, Surekha pitches the idea to his right-hand man Bhure of opening a meat shop as he is a great cook to which he replies that no one would eat meat made by the hands of a lower caste. This might be a scene that lasted for a mere few minutes but it left an impact on the viewers.
Subsequently, we have the theme of sexism and we're introduced to the leading lady of the film. We have Panna's wife Chetna (Fatima Sana Shaikh). Chetna like any other woman dreams of a better life. Living in a patriarchal town, she's under the radar of everyone not cause she is a woman living alone but also the fact that she is infertile. Her relationship with the then stranger Siddharth raises eyebrows which ultimately leads to bloodshed. You can see the agony in her character and how she wants to break free from the leashes of her abusive husband Panna.
Beware of the gore scenes. it's unimaginably violent. You know this is a revenge drama when hands and ears are being cut off. But I do believe the over-the-top violence is necessary as it adds to the enigma of Thar. The director Raj does an impeccable job with the visuals, treating the viewers with these problematic characters and the dark and grim shadows that trail along with them. The cinematic visual is a sight for sore eyes, the way Raj along with his team has paid attention to the details is applaudable. We've seen Rajasthan in a lot of movies but here we are served with a completely new location that makes the movie bare. With the aid of composer Ajay Jayanthi, they together capture the true sense of the movie with an equally gripping background score. Props to Anurag Kashyap for writing intense dialogues.
Thar is a movie that definitely deserves the recognition it's been getting. Amazing performances by Satish Kaushik, Fatima Shaikh, Mukti Mohan, Sacred games star Jitendra Joshi, Sanjay Bishnoi, Sanjay Dadhich, Rahul Singh, and the rest of the supporting cast added to the complexity of Thar. Watch it for the father-son duo and witness the classic trope of figuring out the good and the evil. It's sure to make you squirm. Just like Surekha says,‘Danger ilaka hai. Kuch bhi ho sakta hai.’
You can watch Thar on Netflix India
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