Afwaah Movie Review: Topicality burdens narrative of this Sudhir Mishra directorial

Films like Afwaah can be a bit difficult to critique. They don’t fall under the category of weekly self-refilling pool of flinching cinema which reviewers can ridicule and forget. They also don’t expose some unexplored horrors of society which warrant an academic paper or exhibit cinematic brilliance which can be lauded for more than a paragraph. Afwaah comes under the genus of “the regular churn of topical cinema”. You pick up a societal issue and you wrap a narrative around it. Just that the narrative seems like a desperate amalgamation of loose plotlines and the exploration of the issue at hand is as simplistic as reading out a news report. Films like Afwaah have everything going for them: a relevant topic, powerful actors and an acclaimed director, still they find themselves heavy and sluggish, scarce of any spark and running the risk of being labeled “bland”.

Starring: Sumeet Vyas, Sharib Hashmi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bhumi Pednekar

Director: Sudhir Mishra

The topic in question is fake news. With CGI donkeys crowding over a similarly designed Twitter feed, in the opening credits itself, filmmaker Sudhir Mishra makes it amply clear what he thinks of opinions on social media. Although there are multiple storylines branching out, the central plot of Afwaah revolves around three characters, amoral politician Vikram Bana aka Vicky (Sumeet Vyas), his straight-arrow fiancée Nivedita Singh (Bhumi Pednekar) and an antsy Muslim businessman Rahab Ahmed (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).

The film is set against the backdrop of a small town in Rajasthan. Vicky is an upcoming leader unafraid to use fringe elements to advance his political career. After getting injured in a stone pelting incident during a rally, Vicky gives a task to his curved-moustached, tika-wearing minion Chandan (Sharib Hashmi) to kill a man. The murder happens in a meat shop (who can the victim be?) and the video goes viral. Nivedita is disturbed by his fiancée’s actions and decides to escape. In parallel, US-return Rahab is a telecom tycoon who is on the way to meet his wife at a literature festival. Rahab and Nivedita’s paths cross and situations lead them to get on the run, with Vicky on their heels. To save his image and future political prospects, Vicky plants fake news that Rahab escaping with Nivedita is a case of Love Jihad.

Afwaah aims to be a political satire but it lacks the bite of one. Terms and phrases like “aapda mein avsar (Opportunities in difficulties)”, “gharwaapsi” are awkwardly dropped to sound cheeky. In its bid to give political commentary at each juncture, it discounts on the thrill of innocent fugitives on-the-run film. Bhumi’s Nivedita sounds like a twitter activist whose account got suspended (“Social media is in frenzy… and I have nothing to say because it is so damn horrifying”). Her dialogues are more like rants. It’s quite a rarity but Nawazuddin seems clueless in his character (“What the f*** is happening?” “Why is everyone saying Love Jihad, Love Jihad?”). Sumeet is experimenting with antagonist roles lately and after the caricature-ish serial killer outing in Mrs Undercover, his Vicky Bana feels saner. Sharib Hashmi as Chandan shows promise but his character doesn’t get space to spread its (right) wings.

Sudhir Mishra has been having resurgence on OTT lately. His last collaboration with Nawazuddin, Serious Men, was an arresting satire which looked deeper into the human psyche. Even Tanaav and Hostages, although not remarkable, serve as decent watches. For a theatrical experience though his chops feel labored, Afwaah aims to show a mirror to society, just that the image is a bit hazy.