NYAFF Report: Ab Tak Chappan Review
Quite possibly the best Michael Mann film not actually made by Michael Mann or anyone associated with him, the Ram Gopal Varma produced, Shimit Amin directed crime thriller Ab Tak Chhappan is the sort of murky-moraled crime thriller that reputations are built upon. Technically dazzling and anchored by a stunning performance from Nana Patekar the film tells the story of Sadhu, the leader of a squad of Mumbai Police "encounter specialists", essentially an officially sanctioned hit squad that eliminates known criminals who are outside the realm of court prosecution for whatever reason. And lest you think this is something cooked up for the film, speculation runs rampant that Sadhu is loosely based on real life encounter specialist Daya Nayak, a man openly thanked in the opening credits and who has boasted that he personally eliminated eighty three criminals over one three year period. Nayak's total count is reportedly in the one hundred thirty range. Though the film opens with a statement that it is a work of fiction - no doubt to protect against possible litigation - it is very clearly based on real people and real events and that dedication to reality pervades the entire work, taking it into an uncomfortably violent and amoral world.
The film opens with Sadhu and one of his men completing one of their regular tasks: the capture and elimination of a notorious gangster, one they know is responsible for many deaths but cannot prove this in court. Sadhu and his work are clearly well known - the gangster screams like a little girl when he spots the cop - and he is brutally, ruthlessly efficient. It's not a pleasant job, he reasons, but it needs to be done and he has done it faithfully - following orders to the letter for almost twenty years. But all is not well in Sadhu's world. He has a rookie to train, a jealous rival in the office, the gang lord whose men he is elminating has gotten hold of his personal phone number and is calling at all hours, the police commissioner he has served faithfully for years is retiring and leaving a much less sympathetic successor, and the same press that has announced him a hero is starting to ask questions about the sheer number of bodies that have accumulated around his squad over previous years. One tends to develop some enemies over the course of fifty kills and this is the basic reality of Sadhu's life. And when tragedy strikes Sadhu close to home and his superiors refuse to act, all bets are off ...
The first thing to strike you about Ab Tak Chhappan is just how good it looks. Director Amin has a fantastic eye and a restless, largely handheld camera style that captures the raw energy and tension of the streets of Mumbai with startling clarity. The production values of this film are simply stellar, easily up to par with any Hollwood production, drawing obvious comparisons to either the aforementioned Mann or Soderbergh's Traffic. The next vital cog is the beautifully crafted script, a piece of work that easily balances genre conventions with an unusual level of complexity and the ring of truth. Clocking in just over two hours - positively lean by Bollywood standards - the film captures everything you'd expect from a crime picture - the office politics, the seemingly stock cross selection of officers - along with several things that you wouldn't - family dynamics, a detailed take on political corruption, etc - with the stock eements serving to give you easy traction on the more complex elements while the latter give the film an uncommon depth.
Beyond any doubt, however, the reason to see this film is Nana Patekar, a performer who does most of his work on stage but here turns in an absolute powerhouse performance. A cold hearted pitbull who has long since stopped questioning the morality of his actions Patekar plays Sadhu as a charismatic yet coldly amoral killer. He has only one task in life. As he explains to the squads rookie their role is to either kill or kill time, there is nothing else for them. And yet despite the brutal efficiency of his executions Sadhu is also a devoted family man, a loving husband to his teacher wife and when his two worlds are juxtaposed - as when he cheerfully exchanges death threats by phone with gang boss Zameer while giving his wife a lift to work - it stands as a chilling reminder of just how twisted and monstrous this man has become as a result of his work.
Director Amin obviously understands that the reality in this case is far more chilling than fiction could ever be and so he presents events as true to life as possible, with the violence - and it is plentiful - presented as straightforwardly as possible. No highly choreographed gun battles here: prey is stalked, removed to a remote location and felled with a single shot. The gunplay comes in short bursts, the tension coming from anticipation and fear of imminent death rather than any sort of glamorized version of the same.
Despite an unneccesary epilogue that, in my view, only weakens the impact of what came before Ab Tak Chhappan comes very close to being a perfect crime drama. The direction is excellent, the script deep and engaging, the performances and characters uniformly strong. This is certainly te best of the titles I have seen at the New York Asian Film Festival and comes very highly recommended.
