‘Kuch bhi ho jaaye, par bardi par daag nahi lagna chahiye’
Says an officer to a rookie cop. The ‘daag’ here is more literal than metaphorical, reason being that the rookie is hiding his privates with a file, after indulging in an unmentionable act in the police station’s loo. Somewhere, the makers may have thought that this doesn’t just have metaphorical connotations but is also amusing. Well, it is none. Plain and simple, it is just forced, and that’s because the OTT medium allows all of that, and more.
I have maintained that there is nothing wrong with the expletives or the visuals or the straight forward below-the belt references, provided it is relevant to the subject and the genre of the content in the offering. However, when it turns out to be totally forced, as it turns out to be in case of Class of ’83, which could as well have been just the same (boring) film with or without this scene, it becomes problematic.
To think of it, this Atul Sabharwal directed film is actually problematic on more than just one count.
A few times it happens that a promo is not impressive but then the film turns out to be better. That’s not the case here as the movie is equally as unimpressive as the promo.
A few times it happens that a film starts off well but then tapers down as the narrative progresses. That’s not the case here as the film is uniformly dull from start till the finish.
A few times it happens that a film may not be wonderful as a whole but the performances are better. That’s not the case here as the performances too fail to elevate any sort of drama.
A few times it happens that a film works with either the classes or the masses, even if it is not universal. That’s not the case here as this one is neither for the classes nor for the masses.
Now that’s what truly disappoints about this Netflix offering because there isn’t anything really that you recollect much about the film after its through as there is hardly anything to cheer about. I won’t even say that the story lends a sense of deja vu here because even if the Ram Gopal Varma inspired cop/criminal plot [Satya, Company, Contract, Department] had been rehashed here with flair, it could well have made for an entertaining watch. That doesn’t happen either as there is practically not even a single scene that stands out in isolation.
Worse, even though the film is being marketed as Bobby Deol’s solo lead comeback affair, he in fact hardly is there in the film. First, he makes a belated appearance, then in the middle portions he is just not there, and then towards the end when he re-appears, it is sans any true blue heroism per se. It all turns out to be dull, ordinary and spark-less, which is sheer loss.
This brings me towards the core plot of this Class of ’83 proclaiming ‘Ho Gayi Taiyaar, Hamaari Army’. Shah Rukh Khan may have worked in Army many years back where Sridevi put together her own army but here protagonist Bobby Deol’s army is as unexciting as it gets. The whole basis of the team coming together baffles you and then worse, even though they are shown as friends, neither is there is a basis of that nor an extension. As a matter of fact they are all shown to be on the payroll of the rival gangs, and then out to catch each other’s throat.
Class of ’83? Really?
There are as many as five leads introduced, Bhupendra Jadawat, Hitesh Bhojraj, Sameer Paranjape, Ninad Mahajani and Prithvik Pratap, and frankly, none really manages to stand out and mark an announcement per se. The heroes, the villains [Anup Soni], the supporting characters [Joy Sengupta, Vishwajeet Pradhan] – they are all there, just there, with no real fleshing out.
That’s what Class of ’83 as a whole is, as well. Nothing really fleshed out, hence turning out to be an out and out forgettable film.
For more latest news and updates Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.