Last year, Udta Punjab had explored the dark side of Punjab by exposing its drug problem on the silver screen and this year, there is Irada to assure that Punjab has bigger problems than drugs too.
But does Irada prove to be as hard-hitting as Udta Punjab? Let's find out…
The film revolves around a retired Armyman Parabjeet (Naseeruddin Shah), who is training her daughter to appear for the Air Force exams. However, when the daughter succumbs to cancer (caused by regular swimming in a canal polluted by reverse boring), Parabjeet decides to go on the offensive.
When a factory belonging to Paddy Sharma (Sharad Kelkar) explodes, corrupt CM Ramandeep Braitch (Divya Dutta) deploys NIA sleuth Arjun Mishra (Arshad Warsi) to investigate the case. Will Arjun manage to solve the case? Is Parabjeet the culprit? Will intrepid journalist Maya Singh (Sagarika Ghatge) manage to get justice for her RTI activist boyfriend, who was killed by Paddy for getting too close to the truth? These questions are answered in the film.
There is no question that Naseer is one of the most talented actors we have, but the grizzled veteran seems disinterested in the film and doesn't give his best to the role. Arshad looks way too plump and though he plays his role of a cynical investigator well, he comes across as trying too hard to be funny at times. Sharad Kelkar is hardly menacing as the antagonist, while Divya Dutta puts in a powerful performance as the corrupt politician.
As far as the film is concerned, the premise is quite promising and considering the increasing number of cancer patients in Punjab because of contamination by industries, the film should have ideally sent a shiver up anyone's spine, but Irada fails to do so miserably.
The characters are caricaturish, the screenplay is loose, the editing is sloppy and the story hasn't been handled with the treatment it deserves. Even the scene involving the ‘cancer train', which ideally should have been bone-chilling, fails to make an impact because the rest of the film is so below average.
A word of advice: don't be fooled by the stellar cast…
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But does /movietalkies/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/irada-3.jpg)
The film revolves around a retired Armyman Parabjeet (/movietalkies/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/irada-4.jpg)
When a factory belonging to Paddy Sharma (/movietalkies/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/irada-5.jpg)
There is no question that Naseer is one of the most talented actors we have, but the grizzled veteran seems disinterested in the film and doesn't give his best to the role. Arshad looks way too plump and though he plays his role of a cynical investigator well, he comes across as trying too hard to be funny at times. Sharad Kelkar is hardly menacing as the antagonist, while Divya Dutta puts in a powerful performance as the corrupt politician./movietalkies/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/irada-6.jpg)
As far as the film is concerned, the premise is quite promising and considering the increasing number of cancer patients in Punjab because of contamination by industries, the film should have ideally sent a shiver up anyone's spine, but Irada fails to do so miserably./movietalkies/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/irada-7.jpg)
The characters are caricaturish, the screenplay is loose, the editing is sloppy and the story hasn't been handled with the treatment it deserves. Even the scene involving the ‘cancer train', which ideally should have been bone-chilling, fails to make an impact because the rest of the film is so below average./movietalkies/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/irada-8.jpg)
A word of advice: don't be fooled by the stellar cast…/movietalkies/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/irada-9.jpg)