Despatch
Introduction
The focused period in the new Hindi film Despatch is essentially the start of the social media era. The setting is that of a news channel who slowly has thoughts of competing with news appearing on the social media, particularly as seen through the lens of a character who exclaims very early on in the film the ‘Everything Is News On The Social Media’. This is an era where news channels were still grounded to an extent and not resorting to buffoonery as you see in times today. But with the onset of social media, you see traces of corruption and sensationalization creeping into the employees of the news channel. At the center of it is Joy Bag (a terrific Manoj Bajpayee). Joy in a way, represents the transition period of the news channel in many ways – a part of him still wants to seek the truth in a story that he is investigating, but the bottom line remains that all of this is due to his ‘aspiration’ to grow in his career. Joy is a perfect mix of the ol’ and new school of reporting – he is vigilant and imperfect, aspirational and corrupt, both in the same breath, something that essentially forms the crux of the drama here.
Story & Screenplay
One look at the template of Despatch, and you would clearly understand that the drama here is heavily character-driven as opposed to plot-driven. So if you are expecting the drama to be on the lines of Spotlight or The Nightcrawler, then you need to manage your expectations. The camera offers an unwavering focus into the life of Joy, an aspirational journalist of the ‘transition era’ who may not really be likeable throughout the film. He is misogynistic in terms of his career and his personal life – he uses women as steps for his success. You can clearly notice this fact given his strained relationship with his wife Shweta Bag (Shahana Goswami), and his extra-marital affairs with his colleague Prerna (Arrchita Agarwaal) and his peer Noorie (Rii Sen). In separate instances, you see Joy storming out of the house party hosted by Shweta, even as she asks him to stay, while often ignoring her needs and wants of having a baby. The tepid actions of Shweta are always met with that of aggression from Joy, who has clearly moved past Shweta in life. On the other hand, Joy shares a steamy relationship with Prerna, even while not quite standing up for her during their housing scout for the latter, a sign that signifies that Joy is ‘in it’ only for personal gains. Likewise, his brief affair with Noorie is just on the fringes, a clear sign of a person being on the verge of corruption, should you choose to look at Joy from the lens of his profession which is under a transition.
Having said that, Joy still has redeeming qualities with respect to his profession (on his personal front, you also see him as a ‘Family Man’) despite his acknowledgement of just dishing up a story to his superiors. This part of the narration will divide the viewers given that the entire episode of Joy’s investigation filled with startling revelations is rather sedated with the approach. It is a niche in many ways with the most important details revealed through a quiet dialogue-exchange, while staying true to the understated approach of the narration. It further complicates the case given that the POV of the drama never changes (it unfolds strictly through the lens of Joy), which in a way might further distance the viewers. Clearly, Kanu Behl did decide to tread a rather complex path, but I am not complaining for sure. It was a refreshing change for me, to witness a drama that is understated even with the revelations, more so because I live in a time wherein news channels have become a joke, sensationalizing every minute detail that is trivial to the whole ecosystem, while ignoring the ‘actual’ news wherein ‘truth’ lies in the ‘grey’. This is similar to the theme of the drama that doesn’t present its core from a binary lens – the truth here is complex and startling, devoid of being black and white but instead being ‘grey’.
The writers have incorporated a lot of dry humour that emerges from situations involving Joy – be it his street-smart attitude in reaching the crime spot only to get his nose busted by a goon, or alternately, visiting a company as a fake vigilance audit officer only to scam from the venue after being chased. All of it can be termed as occupational hazards, but they reek of humour while presenting an important piece of the puzzle for Joy. One little criticism with regard to the drama could be that it doesn’t exactly amplify the levels of tension, or even bouts of threat that are often referred to in whispers. You see characters exclaiming that this is a huge mess and has levels of danger tagged to it. But as a viewer, these threats are cardboard-y and never palpable enough to translate through the screen, even as you are witness to Joy digging deeper into the case despite the threats, only to unveil a huge scam that would shake his fundamentals of right and wrong. The finale twist though adds some much needed intensity in the drama which has been quietly riveting up until that point while clearly taking potshots at an ecosystem that is fast reducing to ashes in terms of the financial scams underway even today. In fact, even the finale is borrowed from a gruesome true event that is representative of the state of affairs that we live in. And when I am to look at the drama in totality – it represents the journey of the media from having some semblance of a voice (say a few years back, circling back to the start of the film that marked the onset of the social media era) to being completely ‘dead’ in today’s times. That for me represents the screenplay that is pretty well written and makes for a rewarding watch if you are patient with the drama.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
This is essentially a dialogue heavy film so you need to pay attention to the lines that often reveal some startling details in the most leisurely manner possible. But the lines epitomize the understated approach of the drama. The BGM is sparingly used which allows the drama to imbibe the natural surroundings and present itself in its rawest form. This in a way is also representative of the understated nature of the drama in terms of the reality that we live in – a lot of things are transpiring in the background while we are oblivious to most of it, much like the character of Joy. That said, some scenes really needed a little more pronounced score to hold the proceedings together in a couple of scenes. The cinematography comprises of frames that are raw in the purest form. The frames are clearly designed to make you uncomfortable even with the multiple s*x scenes that are edgy but very much feel a part of the world that is corrupted (no s*x isn’t what corrupts but the reactions to the situations do). The frames more often that not make you a bystander in various situations, while allowing you to peek into the souls of the characters, something that results in a subtly terrifying watch. The editing is decent but that said I did feel the pinch of the massive runtime of the drama at a few junctures. There were a few lags stationed in the drama, particularly in the second hour that needed to be ironed out for a smoother watch. But was it deliberately done to showcase the mundane (yet thrilling) life of a journalist? We shall never know!
Director Kanu Behl is one of those unique voices that needs to be preserved, simply because of his raw and unbashed nature that easily translates on celluloid for a rather uncomfortable consumption. Here, his unwavering focus towards the character of Joy doubles up as a character study, while featuring his flawed trait in an already corrupted world. This is a refreshing change from an idealist who is handpicked in a world of corruption, something that added a different dimension to the drama. The direction is pretty understated and trusts the intellect of the viewers to decipher the drama while refusing to spoon-feed the audience in any way. And I am all for that approach in times when the intellect of the films are intentionally lowered to cater to the larger interests of the viewers. The direction is splendid!
Performances
The performances are excellent by the members of the cast. Parvati Sehgal as Varsha has. Good screen presesence and manages to leave a mark despite an extremely limited screentime. Likewise for Nikhil Vijay who does a nice little job too as the informer. Kabir Sadanand is nicely understated as Wadhwa, and he manages to shine here. It was nice to see Mamik on celluloid again and as Silva, he does a good job too. Shahana Goswami as Shweta may not have had an elongated screentime, but it doesn’t deter her from essaying a complex character that is undergoing an emotional breakdown. Her angst is often buried under a range of emotions that stem out of her needs and wants, a searing thread that was superbly maintained through her incredible performance. Rii Sen as Noorie is unabashed and unapologetic while nicely doubling up as a wonderful foil for Joy to thrive on. There is an unsteady rawness with her character particularly representing ‘the-now-corrupted’ profession that she nicely taps into. Arrchita Agarwaal as Prerna is natural to the core as an individual who is dealing with her own set of insecurities. She is able to tap into a range of emotions effortlessly, while also signalling a thread of aspiration that silently emerges through her character. Manoj Bajpayee as Joy is a revelation, particularly because his character was never affable and pleasing to the eye. So when you have the viewers repelled from your character, it becomes that much more tough for an actor to touch upon its redeeming qualities that in turn coaxes you to feel for him. In that regard, Manoj is excellent to the core, often treading the path of grey and delivering a wonderfully measured performance that stays with you after the drama has ended.
Conclusion
Despatch is a film that will divide its viewers particularly because the drama is character-driven and not plot-driven, something that automatically makes it a niche. But should you choose to stay and absorb, you will realise that it represents a searing lifecycle of the media packaged in a fascinating character study that makes for a pondering watch. Available on Zee5 (from 13th December 2024 onwards).
