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What’s shameful and shocking about Contract is that it’s been directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the very filmmaker who gave us Satya and Company in the first place.Ĭontract doesn’t work because it has nothing to say. Think of how many bad gangster films you’ve seen recently that can be directly traced back to these two landmark movies.Ĭontract, which opens at cinemas this weekend, is a third-rate gangster film that suffers from a huge Satya hangover, but that’s not even the most embarrassing thing about it. I’m going with three stars.Satya and Company have been two of the most influential movies of the past ten years, but unfortunately their greatest influence has been on the dozen or so rip-offs that they’ve inspired. That said, there is no doubt that Abhishek has talent to burn and I can’t wait to see what hell he immerses us into next. You might also struggle with the language – Bundelkhandi – and it will help to see it with subtitles. Sonchiriya tries to blend Spaghetti Western style-action drama with social commentary but it isn’t entirely satisfying on either count. Though she does get one terrific scene, in which she tells Indu that women are such second-class citizens that they aren’t even deserving of the brutal caste system. The weakest spot is the female daku Phulia, obviously modeled on Phoolan Devi. Sonchiriya doesn’t offer the same emotional depth or keen observation. The film scarred me but it also gave me an unforgettable insight into an unfathomable world. Of course, violence comes with the terrain – you don’t go to a Chambal film expecting light comedy. The brutality is unsparing and beyond a point, it starts to wear you down. In the first hour, the film has real power but Abhishek and co-writer Sudip Sharma can’t sustain the grip. Sonchiriya doesn’t offer the same emotional depth or keen observation as Bandit Queen did. Ashutosh Rana as the cop who relentlessly chases down the bandits is also nicely terrifying. Honestly, I don’t know why filmmakers don’t cast him more often. And then there is Ranvir Shorey, an actor who inhabits the character without any sign of strain. Lakhna gets a few heroic flourishes, especially in the action scenes but neither Sushant nor Bhumi are being used as stars here, which serves the film well. As does Bhumi Pednekar as the spirited Indu, the lone woman fighting the horrific patriarchy she is born into. Sushant Singh Rajput as Lakhna, a decent man whose dream is surrender, makes the role his own. Manoj gives Maan Singh a bruised dignity. This is a man who insists that the dakus give 101 rupees as shagun to a bride whose jewelry they are looting. Maan Singh is a benevolent killer who understands the Karmic burden he carries. Except the one in his debut film Bandit Queen was based on a real-life character and this one is fiction. It’s a pleasure to see Manoj Bajpayee return to where he started – playing a character named Maan Singh in a Chambal film.

The action, directed by Anton Moon & Sunil Rodrigues, is masterfully staged with dollops of suspense and dread – in a key sequence, Diwali diyas are hurriedly put out before the mayhem begins. The camera is constantly swirling and weaving through crannies in the hillocks and corridors of homes the dakus are looting. Abhishek and DOP Anuj Rakesh Dhawan do a great job of plunging us into this universe. It is as if time stands still as the cycle of violence repeats itself. Sonchiriya is set in 1975 but apart from hearing the announcement that Emergency has been declared, the politics of the outside world barely impinge on this one. Instead, they are rebels with a cause and a conscience – personified by the golden bird in the title. But the twist is that the dakus defy the Bollywood cliché – they don’t ride horses and they aren’t murderous looters though they kill plenty. The close-up holds for much too long but from the first frame, director Abhishek Chaubey establishes two things – that we are in a lawless land and that he isn’t interested in making the ride comfortable for us. Sonchiriya begins with the sound of flies buzzing and then we get a close-up of the carcass they are hovering on. For miles, all you see are the merciless ravines. Of which there is plenty in this stunning, arid land.

But the toxic fusion of caste, violence and jungle law ensures that eventually, everyone bites the dust. It’s apt because in Sonchiriya also, a ragtag team of doomed dakus try to create their own destiny. It’s from the iconic Chambal film – Bandit Queen. Baaghi apna bhagya khud hi banata hai. This dialogue isn’t from Sonchiriya.