It’s the same old miasma: festival films (this one was ready, as per IMDb, in 2023, busy garnering accolades in the international festival circuit thanks to Anurag Kashyap lending his name to the film!) and those meant for Indian audiences are far from congruent.
Stolen, inspired by a real happening (two brothers being accused of child kidnapping and being lynched by a furious crowd of villagers even as they plead innocence), adds a fictional element and tries to cram a thriller in 93 minutes.
One late night, Gautam has come to pick up his brother Raman from a railway station as he has missed his flight as their mother (!) is getting married. Now, was the last deviance needed at all? Plot-wise, it does not make a fig of a difference! It could have been their grandmother (!!!), sister, friend or anyone else.
By chance, a woman, Jhumpa (Mia Maelzer)’s five month-old infant has been kidnapped and the culprit, while running, dashes onto Raman, leaving him with the baby’s cap in his hands. All hell breaks loose when the now-hysterical mother accuses Raman of being in cahoots with the kidnapper. To cut a long story short, the police are called in and Raman is a shade rude with them when they are informed by the tea-seller on the railway platform that the kidnapper might be heading towards a disreputable mansion (kasuni kothi) nearby. Raman actually tells the policemen that they should help the woman instead of being indifferent and the cops order the brothers and the woman to accompany them to the dilapidated mansion.
At the mansion, the woman who has done the kidnapping, Surili (Shrishti) attacks Gautam while he is alone outside and runs away, but falls to her death. Various things happen, a bribe with the cops is exchanged so that Gautam is not charged with her ‘murder’ and one of the cops leave. But Raman, who is an altruist of sorts, will not abandon Jhumpa even if some evidence points to her even being far from innocent.
The two brothers and the woman finally leave the haveli but by that time the news has spread and angry villagers chase the brothers and Jhumpa. Raman is injured and things become bloodier…
But the full element of an action drama, or its social ramifications, isn’t satisfactorily explored. The chases occupy a lot of screen time when considering the story and the total runtime. The social messages are subliminal and include everything from mass judgment of innocent people, primitive ‘justice’ being meted out, surrogacy, kidnapping for Mammon by a chain headed by a corrupt doctor and a comment on a sense of social duty irrespective of personal gains. But the way the whole script pans out is quite languid, even as it is bloody and intense in intention.
The cinematography (Isshaan Ghosh) is erratic and Arpad Bondy’s background score is minimal but alright. Karan Tejpal’s direction is effective for the most, but he should have ensured here that the script (he is also the co-writer) was more impactful and audience-friendly. The overall feel here is of the mediocre NH10 rather than any movie of solid substance, and of a story wanting to stay too ‘real’ at the cost of viewer appeal.
Abhishek Banerjee is good as Gautam though Shubham Vardhan scores much higher as the conscientious Raman. Mia Maelzer is excellent as Jhumpa, especially when shown in a determined mode. As the cops, Harish Khanna and Sahidur Rahaman make a mark.
Wish the film had done this too. It is just about average. Something vital from the ‘audience’ point of view has been clearly ‘Stolen’ from its execution. Can’t point an exact finger on this factor, but the movie left me strangely disillusioned despite the fab potential of this real-meets-fictional saga.
Rating: **1/2
Amazon Prime Video presents Jungle Book Studios’ Stolen Produced by: Gaurav Dhingra Directed by: Karan Tejpal Written by: Karan Tejpal, Swapnil Salkar & Gaurav Dhingra Music: Arpad Bondy Starring: Abhishek Kapoor, Shubham Vardhan, Mia Maelzer, Harish Khanna, Sahidur Rahaman, Bhanu & others
