In Hisaab Barabar now streaming on Zee5, writer-director Ashwini Dhir has his heart in the right place. He wants to address the growing menace of high-profile scamming whereby a handful of denizens in the billionaire’s club get so rich they can control the entire economy.
Dhir deserves a pat on the back for daring to bust the scam that our lives have become. The very sincere Madhavan is immensely likeable as the ant which takes on the elephant. He plays Radhe Mohan Sharma, a train conductor trained to speak up against corruption with disarming integrity. When he spots an eccentric billionaire, Mickey Mehta (Neil Nitin Mukesh, playing it unplugged), scamming the Great Indian Middle Class, his hackles rise in protest.
This guy wants to change the world. But he lacks the power to do so.
Radhe Mohan Sharma wants to get even in odd ways. Like the film’s director Radhe’s intentions are correct. However, the anti-corruption methodology is risky, dangerous, and monstrously misguided.
Hats off to Madhavan for making Radhe Mohan float on the surface even when he is pushed underneath by a sinking screenplay.
The other characters are meant to be like spicy pickles but end up seeming like under-ripe mangoes. Rashmi Desai tries for a Bihari accent as Radhe Mohan’s neighbour. She gets bonus points for effort but zero for actually getting there. Kirti Kulhari, an actress I had hoped would be among those who count, is saddled with an underwritten part of a cop Poonam, which she tries hard to make some sense of.
Radhe and Poonam have some kind of a history. He had apparently turned down her marriage proposal because she was undereducated; now, she is back in his life as an empowered woman.
The idea goes back to the Amitabh Bachchan-Mala Sinha starrer Sanjog. It was also used in a film directed by Ratna Sinha (Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana).
Hisaab Barabar is not short of ideas. It is just short of breadth. It attempts to broaden the spectrum of reformist cinema. Madhavan could have been Dharmendra from Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Satyakam re-booted. Alas, he seems like a troublemaker with a zeal to squeal.
