Samrat & Co. (2014)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is one of the best movies of 2014. The last half an hour was a little disappointing. Otherwise it would have been THE best movie of 2014. The story and the plot is very very gripping. Once you start this movie, you can't just leave your seat. I see a little style of Arthur Conan Doyle in this movie. Except for Rajiv Khandewal and Girish Karnad, acting is not that great. But the plot and the story compensates for it. For me the most disappointing part was the last half an hour where the story loosens the grip by showing the hero saving the heroine who was driving a car with a speed bomb planted in it. This is repeated in 100s of Hindi movies since 1970. If you can digest this scene, the rest of the movie is wonderful.

This is one of the best Indian films i have seen, Bollywood is not known for producing detective stories but they managed such an interesting movie. It was brilliantly detected, decent background music, suspense till the end, nice script, good plot. In a detective story one has to develop every single character from a driver or a neighbor to the detective itself, and the director and writer managed to do so in this. The dialogs are brilliant and can be used in everyday lives. BUT, there is one thing, after the film ends, the director, writer, actors and every body tells us about the making of the film and all. They tell us that it took them a lot of days to build up Samrat's character in the film, they considered a lot of things and thought a lot before giving a summer of the character to Rajeev khandelwal. While the truth is, all they did was ask Rajeev to closely observe Benedict Cumberbatch's character and copy it, which he did. Same attitude, same lifestyle, same coat, same way of setting the collar of the coat. They should have at least told us that they were inspired by the brilliance of Benedict Cumberbatch. Otherwise, as a whole, the film is awesome, suspense till the very end. The actors did great job.

First things first, when u go to watch Samrat &Co don't go with a comparative state of mind that you gonna watch Desi Sherlock, or Indian Benedict Cumberbatch...because if you will deliberately try to find someone else in Samrat it will not only be unfair but disappointing also as it will kill the whole idea & fun of watching a suspense film.So for all those who have seen & read Sherlock Holmes (like me) comparisons are inevitable because the mere mention of word detective is synonymous with Sherlock Holmes....but you would not enjoy the film if you watch Samrat & Co with an intention of comparing scene to scene , frame to frame, dialogue to dialogue... so my advice is before watching Samrat &Co keep all detective references back home... & welcome & meet Samrat as a new detective, an addition to the whole list of Detectives we have known till now, & film Samrat &Co.... as any other new suspense film..trust me, you will enjoy the film more...Initially when the case actually started off I also was comparing but gradually kept comparisons aside & focused on the case as it engages you eventually & you start solving case along with Samrat, you start making your own assumptions who is criminal who is not, who is positive or negative !! Film as a whole has been good...it sticks to its genre, efforts of writer & director sud be appreciated they managed to keep the interest & Mystery level intact till the end (It kept me guessing till the end) & every time u think Samrat has solved the case...it just takes a twist & u get surprised...& DAT the basic requirement for any suspense thriller...& must say Samrat&Co fulfills it... A special mention for the dialogs some have turned out really good... like "Pyaar Aur war me in Sab fair Hota hai Kyunki do no me second prize nahi Hota"..."Aadmi who Nahi hota Jo who dikhata hai...Aadmi who hota hai Jo who chupata hai"CD & Samrat's camaraderie is something to watch out... CD manages to crack u up at many places...Though I personally felt there were certain things which director cud have done away with...for instance he cud have reduced number of suspects because if you loose the track of story, somewhere amidst of so many characters it tends to get confusing (I did got confused) but guess to keep the mystery more gripping it was required :) Also, putting in romantic angle for Samrat-Dimpy wasn't required since it was there we watched, if it wouldn't have been there it wouldn't have made much of difference...& thankfully it wasn't dragged much... :) :) Since as a audience the main focus remains on the case Samrat needs to solve so,like any other suspense film it didn't have much scope for music, except for the background music, & Of course "Sawalon me in", it was wonderful...would have loved to hear more of it ....Song in itself has a mysterious & chilling feel to it...As a character Samrat is very much of a detective, intelligent, smart, & a very keen observer...not even a minute details escapes his eye... just a glance & he will know your past present & future... Best thing about Samrat is director & creative have not made him a filmy & heroic kind of character... even in the opening fight sequence more than muscle power it was all about brains coz physically Samrat was no where in competition with the fighter (Though the whole shot was a proper fan girl moment for me ^_^ ) Samrat solved the case more with brains....& with his instincts oops sorry (tcchhh) seventh sense!! ...Rajeev as Samrat pulls off to manage Samrat convincingly enough...& practically carries film on himself in spite of presence of other characters who make their presence felt....As Samrat Rajeev makes you believe in him as a detective & as a Rajeev khandelwal fan its gonna be a treat to watch him...Overall would give 3 out of 5...(tried to be as unbiased & non-comparative as possible) you would enjoy the film if you watch it with open mind...Don't watch it just for the heck of comparison or to rip the film apart & trash the film.... instead the efforts of writer, director, actors, production house to come up with something like this should be appreciated... The whole team deserves praise for introducing us to a new private investigator, I don't think Hindi films has any detective film in past many years... at least I have not seen it...Once again Welcome the new detective "Samrat"

Samrat Tilakdhari aka STD(Rajeev Khandelwal) is our Desi Sherlock Holmes who likes to try his hands upon challenging cases only in the company of his Desi Dr. Watson - Chakradhar aka CD(Gopal Dutt). He gets a challenging assignment through Shimla based Dimpy(Madalsa Sharma) who informs him that the garden of her family house has dried up without an apparent reason and her father(Girish Karnad) is quite depressed and frightened after the death of their gardener who had rendered a commination to the garden when expelled from service by her father. However the real challenge appears in this assignment only upon our hero's arrival at the venue in Shimla which is a palatial house made in the style of the British times when killings start in the extended family residing there. As expected, our hero finally solves this whodunit.The prestigious Rajshri banner of the Barjatya family has made this movie, taking a diversion from the family dramas they are famous for. However this whodunit also contains a family drama which is behind the mysterious happenings and killings. Director Kaushik Ghatak had earlier directed Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi(2008) for the Barjatyas which was nothing but another version of Rajshri's old hit Tapasya(1976). This time, he seems to have read many Sherlock Holmes stories penned by Arthur Conan Doyle and also some Agatha Christie novels before writing the script of this movie which is a mix-masala of a Sherlock Holmes venture and a Hercule Poirot venture with some James Bondish stunts appearing at places. It does not bore but a writer-director skilled in making such movies would have presented a much better movie on this story.The traditional murder mystery has been spread pretty well on the screen with ample attention to the fine details of the characters, their relationships and their activities. However in his bid to present his detective hero as the legendary Sherlock Holmes, too much detailing has been poured into his dialogs which becomes irksome after a point. But the director was not satisfied with the Sherlock Holmes persona of his hero, so he has committed the blunder of rendering a touch of James Bond also by showing him doing stunts which is superfluous.The narrative would have been taut and free-flowing without the two songs unnecessarily inserted into the movie. Though I liked the second(romantic) song, it didn't stay with me after the movie was over. And the first song which is a party song is highly irritating because of the disgusting appearance of'elephantine' Ganesh Acharya dancing with a young girl.Kaushik Ghatak as a script-writer has done well by linking everything to everything else without leaving any loose ends wanting to be tied up when the story ends but he has introduced unnecessary characters also. The character of Shanti(Pooja Gupta) who presents a parody of Basanti of Sholay is one such character only. Though I laughed at a few places but it was because of the hero and not the humorous characters and situations those the director has tried to force into the narrative.Unlike many recent Bollywood movies, one half of the movie is not superior or inferior to the other one. The suspense-filled story flows equally well in both the halves and the intermission has been brought at the correct spot.Dialog-writer could not write quality one-liners for the hero. The one-liners are aplenty for him in the script but they fail to rise above the ordinary. He terms the heroine(Madalsa Sharma) at a place -'Mistress in Distress'. God only knows what it means because I have heard and read about'Damsel in Distress' only.Rajshri banner has switched to lavishness from simplicity under the reign of Sooraj Barjatya. However I am highly surprised to see that the shooting has not been done in the real locations of Shimla(or at least some other hill station). The animation and artificiality is so vivid that it appears to be a stain in the name of the great Rajshri banner.There are two USPs of this movie. The first one is - it's a neat and clean movie. Nowadays it has become a rarity to come across neat and clean entertainers from Bollywood. Rajshri banner had earned a repute of presenting simple but very sweet movies sans any vulgarity during the sixties, the seventies and the early eighties. This movie is devoid of any vulgarity and definitely a movie which can be watched with one's family.The second one is Rajeev Khandelwal, the hero of this movie wearing a persona of Sherlock Holmes but acting at places in Hercule Poirot style also. Rajeev is a talented actor and a perfect hero material for Bollywood movies. In this movie, he has got very limited range of expressions because of the role being that of a detective, still he impresses. Given a right break, he can emerges as the latest heartthrob of young Indian females. He is one reason, you keep on watching this movie despite its apparent flaws.Other than Rajeev, Gopal Dutt as his sidekick has also done a good job. All others including the heroine - Madalsa Sharma, are strictly okay. However it's a great pleasure to see highly talented and charming actor Priyanshu Chatterjee in a movie after a long hiatus.All in all, the trouble with this old-fashioned whodunit is its mediocrity. It could have been a much superior mystery movie in the hands of an able director. All the same, it's not a bad movie. It's a decent one time watch but strictly for the mystery fans.My rating for the movie - 2.5 stars