- Date of Release: 12 September 2025
- Genre: Comedy, Drama
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Ek Chatur Naar
Introduction
The class divide in the new Hindi film Ek Chatur Naar is evident through its introduction of the two protagonists – Mamta (Divya Khosla Kumar) and Abhishek (Neil Nitin Mukesh). In an early scene, you see Mamta sitting and watching television with her family in her dingy ghetto, whilst occasionally sharing a drink with her mother-in-law. Interestingly, she is watching a rehashed version of ‘Ichhadaari Naagin’, a plot-point that would circle back at a latter point in the film. But the point being that Mamta is living a life in a state of poverty, with even a loan shark Thakur (Yashpal Sharma) after her life. On the other hand, Abhishek is leading a significant rich life while spending most of his time in running his ‘consultancy’ business that aides ministers in carrying out scams, even while jostling between his dynamics of his wife, mother and his secretary, with whom he is having a discreet affair. As a template, this is a face-off between the rich and the poor, but it also comes with a problem – you never quite root for the character of Mamta at any point in the film, until the very end when the picture becomes clear. In that regard, the writing is frustrating because the plot had some potential.
Story & Screenplay
One of the themes of Ek Chatur Naar is a game of one-upmanship that erupts when Mamta through her support system steals Abhishek’s phone, only to uncover a plethora of secrets regarding his affair and scams. It is almost like a sliver of a good deed amidst the grey that Mamta unfurls, in turn taking a decision to blackmail Abhishek for a ransom. And yet, I did feel that there was a certain staleness to the writing that didn’t necessarily build upon this promising plot. It is one of those early 2000s-coded drama that automatically feels stale in 2025, particularly with the intertwining relationships that it intends to build with its characters in the narrative. It is almost like watching an ODI cricket match in which teams struggled to get 250 runs in an innings, sitting in an era wherein even 350 runs is fast becoming a joke!
I had an issue of this drama being branded as a black comedy too – there wasn’t anything wickedly funny about it, nor was the stride of humour consistent enough to hold my attention. And much of it stemmed from the fact that I as a viewer never really felt threatened enough by the antics of Mamta, or cornered from the gaze of Abhishek. The drama was almost in cruise-control mode resembling a driverless car on a test drive, knowing fully well on what the obstacles are in front of it. So as a result, Abhishek’s coverup with his secretary Tina (Heli Daruwala), or his quest for a baby with his wife Anjali (Rose Sardana), or even his assurance with a local minister Qureshi (Zakir Hussain), or even hiring a local cop Triloki (Sushant Singh) to crack the blackmailing case, felt predictable whilst never reaching the hilt of tensions. Likewise, Mamta’s struggle with a loan shark, or her tryst with her son or her mother-in-law Radha (Chhaya Kadam), never quite evoked a feeling of unwavering interest in me. It was watchable and forgettable at the same time.
The issue with this style of narration was that it ultimately became a real-life TV soap saga that Mamta was seeing watching at the start of the film. And one of the primary reasons remains on how the character of Mamta eventually shapes up – she is showcased to be a superhero who is cutout to be invincible despite being pitted against an opponent with a power for money. This kind of felt unrealistic and unconvincing, both at the same time – given how you see her magically appearing in Abhishek’s home having got a job of a maid. The stakes from Abhishek’s perspective feel skewed too – given how the gravitas of the implications in his personal and professional life with the exposition, was not quite established. In other words, the emotional core of the drama felt compromised – something that was missing from both Mamta and Abhishek’s perspective.
The narrative doesn’t punch above its wavelength, almost moving at the same levels – and this is both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing because the drama is watchable (and I would assume this to be a perfect background film when it premieres on Netflix), but a bad thing because the stakes in the drama are never really raised (or alternately feel threatening). The tension in the drama is missing even during an assassination attempt in play, or a game of misunderstandings that would hamper the position of Abhishek. The only little spark remains on how the story is tied up with Mamta’s past, that gives justification for her actions here (and perhaps the only instance when I mildly rooted for her). But even this spark is shortlived, given how insipid the ending it. It was convenient and predictable without any layers!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are decent but seldom feel punchy, which is an important trait for a starkly dark drama that this was positioned to be. The music and the BGM remain above average and instantly forgettable too, despite a reimagined version of Ek Chatur Naar song from Padosan (1968) that uses the same lyrics against a chase sequence to good effect. The cinematography is good here, and you almost immediately see the impact of a film being shot at a real location, something that adds so much depth to the proceedings. Here the city is question is Lucknow, and it almost plays a character in the film while doubling up as a common ground for the two principal characters. The editing doesn’t account for the meandering lag in the screenplay, particularly in the second hour when things get repetitive, but otherwise, it is still decent. Director Umesh Shukla does a decent job but he fails in elevating the drama at any given point in the narrative. The narrative unfolds at the same level, leading to middling results whereas the expectation remained to deliver atleast a couple of curveballs along the way. And when the highs and the lows in a film are at the same level, it becomes hard to fully invest in it. The direction remains mid here.
Performances
The performances are decent by the members of the cast. The likes of Kumar Saurabh as Abdul, Rajneesh Duggal and Geeta Agarwal Sharma as Urmila manage to impress here. Yashpal Sharma as Thakur is tremendous, and one of the few instances that I smiled in the narrative was during a couple of his scenes that felt genuinely funny due to his impeccable dialogue delivery. Zakir Hussain as Qureshi isn’t intimidating enough by the means of how his character is written, but he brings poise and vile to his character through his body language. Heli Daruwala as Tina and Rose Sardana as Anjali make their presence felt and manage to do a pretty decent job here. Sushant Singh as Inspector Triloki has a tremendous screen presence and manages to impress yet again despite the written material being a little sketchy and unconvincing at the end. Chhaya Kadam is a great actor but here as Radha, she hams her way through the film. Not sure what the brief given to her was, but it didn’t necessarily translate into humour.
Neil Nitin Mukesh is an interesting case study because no one will deny his caliber as a performer. And yet, the kind of roles that he has been doing currently has been eerily similar to each other. His character of Abhishek is similar to his character in Hisaab Barabar that was out this year. And whilst he is still good, I did get a feeling that these are the characters that he can easily sleepwalk through it. That is something that he may want to be weary about, going forward. Divya Khosla Kumar as Mamta has a better outing as compared to her previous ventures. She is somewhat in control if I were to talk about the broad strokes of her character. Yet in scenes that needed her to emote and be slightly dramatic, she is still found wanting. So in other words, this performance of hers remains a bit of a mixed bag, although happy to see her improve her craft.
Conclusion
Ek Chatur Naar is a middling crime caper that results in a frustrating watch given the potential of the plot here. This though can be a perfect background film when it releases on Netflix after its theatrical run. It is not too bad, but far from perfect. Available in a theatre near you.