Film: Lost
Cast: Yami Gautam, Pankaj Kapur, Rahul Khanna, Tushar Pandey, Neil Bhoopalam, Pia Bajpiee
Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
OTT: Zee5
Rating: 3 Moons
Yami Gautam spearheads Zee5’s latest investigative drama thriller Lost which is inspired by true events of countless individuals getting lost every day in different parts of the country with no trace. The film has already received a standing ovation at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival where it was premiered at the opening night. Lost is an emotional social thriller that represents a much higher quest, beyond just finding out about missing persons and instead harps on the search of lost values of empathy and integrity in a world full of deceit, betrayal and politics. The film also stars Pankaj Kapur, Rahul Khanna, Tushar Pandey, Neil Bhoopalam and Pia Bajpiee in pivotal roles.
Yami Gautam plays Vidhi Sahni, a young woman crime reporter in her relentless search for the truth behind the sudden disappearance of a young theatre activist Ishan Bharti (Tushar Pandey). Vidhi chances upon Ishaan’s case when she meets his sister Namita at the police station where she had come to lodge a missing person’s complaint. Even after providing the name of his girlfriend Ankita (Pia Bajpiee) the police are hesitant about questioning her or probing that angle thanks to the pressure put on them by a heavyweight politician Ranjan Varman (Rahul Khanna). The case gets further complicated when a political and Maoist angle coupled with terrorism are added to his disappearance.
Yami gives an incredible performance as the investigative crime reporter Vidhi Sahni who wants to unravel the truth between labyrinthine layers of fact and fiction. She shoulders the film exceptionally well and holds audience attention with her nuanced performance. Since, she is in almost every scene of the film Yami ensures that she emotes well and keeps us hooked, serving an engaging film. She gets able and commendable support from Pankaj Kapur who plays her grandfather in the film.
Rahul Khanna as the suave yet cunning politician does justice to his role. Pia Bajpiee plays an integral and crucial part in the drama. Neil Bhoopalam has a small role as Vidhi’s love interest but the romantic angle is kept to a bare minimum in the film. It only serves to establish the fact that Vidhi is headstrong and does not let anything come in the line of her work, not even matters of the heart or of incriminating her parents.
Lost works because of the impeccable acting by its star cast. However, the story lacks crispness and seems a bit convoluted. It comes out to be the tale of a hapless young man embroiled in the game plan of bigger players, but that too unnecessarily. The story written by Shyamal Sengupta and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury had a great premise but at the end does not offer a great ending. However, kudos should be given for having touched upon feminism and strong independent women without undue baggage in their backstory.
Director Aniruddha Chowdhury does a good job of keeping the suspense in the film intact for majority of its length. Ritesh Shah’s dialogues are a winner and so is the charismatic lens of Avik Mukhopadhay who presents Kolkata in all its lost splendor and modern day glory. At the end Lost is not only about the disappearance of the young theatre artist but represents the idea of lost ethics, integrity and values amongst individuals who do not seem perturbed in stooping to the lowest of lows to get to their goal. By the end the word 'lost' takes on its other meaning of having unable to find your way instead of a missing person and therein lies the dilemma of it all. In a way, Lost adheres to the proverb that ‘It’s all fair in love and war' and hopefully the audience will be able to grasp the crux of the film. Lost is a good and entertaining watch.
PeepingMoon.com gives Lost, 3 Moons.
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