Vikrant Massey is playing the role of a crime reporter in the film ‘Blackout’. Image Credit Source: Jio Cinemas
Vikrant Massey’s film ‘Blackout’ is streaming on OTT platform Jio Cinemas. When I came to know that this film was also screened at ‘Cannes Film Festival’, I decided that I had to watch this film ‘First Day First Night’. So it was 12 o’clock and we started watching the movie. But Chaya is like a sweet dish in this film. So very little. I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed, but I don’t regret watching the movie. The film is definitely different, but good, can be watched at home this weekend. Now let’s talk about this in detail.
Lenny D’Souza (Vikrant Massey) is a crime reporter. Husband by religion, reporter by work and has no shame at all. Lenny, who loves his wife (Rouhani Sharma) very much, goes out of the house to get egg-paw due to a sudden power cut and that day, Lenny’s life takes a turn that he himself is shocked to see. Lenny’s 24-hour journey includes a bank robbery, a meeting with the Don, a fight with gangsters, an escape from the police, a sting operation and a betrayal by his wife, how will Lenny survive it all? You have to watch ‘Blackout’ on Jio Cinema to know this.
Vikrant Massey’s film reminds of Nasruddin Shah’s ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’. The film told the story of two photojournalists whose cameras capture a murder. Just as Sudhir Mishra and Kundan Shah in ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ took aim at the system through its two brilliant actors, director Devang Bhavsar has also taken aim at today’s lifestyle with ‘Blackout’ Visible hypocrisy, insulted at the crossroads . Along with comedy and satire, the film also talks about many issues that are important to discuss such as corruption, cheating, betrayal in friendship, obsession with becoming a celebrity on social media.
Story and direction
This whole story is 2 hours long. And the whole story is not what you expect. For example, when we start to think of Lennie as an ideal friend, he leaves his dead friend and runs off with his gold. When we consider Sunil Grover’s character as a drunkard, suddenly it brings a new twist to the story. The film is captivating from start to finish. Even in the last 10 seconds, the writers bring a new twist to the film. And Devang Bhavsar does full justice to this wonderful screenplay by the author. Obviously, the credit for this has to be given to the star cast of the film.
Acting
Vikrant, who played the role of Manoj Kumar Sharma in ’12th Fail’, has proved with ‘Blackout’ that he can change colors like a chameleon to suit the character. Leni is completely different from Manoj Kumar Sharma. On one hand he does big sting operations, on the other hand like every common man he has some dreams which never get fulfilled. Vikrant through his body language has accurately portrayed the conflict between good and evil that goes on in the heart and mind of a common man. Just as ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’ featured many stages, this story also has different twists and turns. And at every turn we meet new actors. Sunil Grover is playing the role of Asghar in this story.
Like Sunil Grover in ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’, here too he presents two different versions of the same person. If you talk more about them, you will find spoilers. As usual Sunil’s timing is brilliant. At one point we also meet Mouni Roy and after a long time we also meet Kelly Dorji. All the characters are good, but Karan Sonavane (Dand) and Saurabh Ghadge (Dand) who share the screen with Vikrant and Sunil Grover need to be talked about. Karan and Saurabh, known as Focus Indians on Instagram, are actually social media influencers. Sharing the screen with an actor like Vikrant Massey in his debut film is not easy for any newcomer. But Karan and Saurabh have done their work honestly.
Devang Bhavsar plays two social media influencers who are thieves, drug addicts, drinkers and no brains at all. And both of them also dream of becoming celebrities by buying social media followers. When Mouni Roy’s (Shruti Mehra) character is seen calling Karan and Saurabh’s character ‘Sale Sadak Chhap Influencers Chor’ in the film, one actually feels sorry for both (but also has a little bit of happiness in mind.)
To see or not to see
This movie is like ‘Madgaon Express’. We cannot compare these films with grand films like ‘Jawaan’, ‘Dhoom’. But this low budget film entertains us a lot. In ‘Blackout’ we get a cinematic experience of theater on OTT, an extra star from me and narration by Anil Kapoor for this experience. In an interview to TV9 Hindi Digital, Manoj Bajpayee said that films are made on the editing table. And with the background music of the film we can win the losing game. So, full marks for the editing and background music score of ‘Blackout’.
If you liked ‘Madgaon Express’, you will also like this movie. If you are a Vikrant Massey fan, you must watch this. After watching the third season of Panchayat, if the family wants to watch family content on OTT then this movie can be given a chance. But if you like grand movies, action like Akshay Kumar, romance like Shahrukh then this movie is not for you.
Movie: Blackout
Director: Devang Bhavsar
Actors: Vikrant Massey, Sunil Grover and Mouni Roy
Rating: ****
