There is plenty that is wrong with Blind Game, the late director Sangeeth Sivan’s farewell directorial venture.But somehow, some of the wrongs were righted on the big screen (where I saw the film) instead of on OTT, where it went directly.
Blind Game is a remake of the 2014 Malayalam thriller 7th Day in which Prithviraj Sukumaran played a mysterious cop on the trail of a missing bag of cash traceable to a bunch of youngsters. Prithviraj had a terrific supporting cast in the original,including Tovino Thomas and Vinay Forrt.
Rampal, in contrast , is saddled with a young bunch who are at the most, adequate.
But here is the thing: Rampal as the swaggering sober yet sozzled-like chainsmoking brooder of a cop is first-rate, better than Prithvi Raj in the original, better than what he did in Dhurandhar where his villainy was marred by an off-on accent and an overdose of bestial brutality.
Here, Rampal’s presence feels like a perk for a team that has not really earned it. He has for inspired company , the wonder Priya Mani who has very little to do, and she does it with characteristic panache and poise. Whenever the two are together on screen, there is a hint of a promising compatibility which sadly remains just that,a promise never fulfilled.
The supporting cast is crucial for the efficacy of any suspense thriller. I cannot really blame the peripheral actors for looking lost in a yarn that aims for Hitchcock but lands close to Vikram Bhatt’s territory.The characters, including the protagonists, remain in the shadows from where they are not allowed to emerge, except when the plot awaken to possibilities, sadly unrealized.
To take an example,Akash Makhija, who made such a career-defining impact in the series Raakh, struggles to make his presence felt, for no fault of his. Why is Makhija’s character Shaan, a journalist? He could have been a gym instructor or a gigolo instead, for all the screenwriter cares.
In a hazy prologue, Arjun Rampal plays a suspended Crime Branch officer in Manali who collides with a motorcycle carrying two anxious young men, Vicky (Rohit Chandel) and Shaan on Christmas Eve (why Christmas?).
After Sikander takes the injured Vicky to a hospital, Vicky vanishes and is later found dead. Suspecting murder rather than suicide, Sikander teams up with local inspector Yamini (Priyamani). They uncover that Vicky, Shaan, and their three friends are being hunted by a dangerous syndicate over ₹5 crore in missing cash.
As the plot thickens, the motivations sicken beyond redemption. A large part of the narrative is concerned with a body swap from a mortuary. Frankly, this part of the plot is so snarled and self-aware it feels like a stranger on a train who insists on telling a story we don’t want to hear.
Rampal’s engaging presence keeps this thriller from sagging. Which, this week, is more than you will get in the other sappy OTT releases.
