Despatch movie review: Not an easy watch!

Despatch movie review: Not an easy watch!

What: ‘Despatch’ - A moody newsroom thriller that excavates the raw and gritty truth buried under the headlines and the dirty terrain of investigative journalism.

Despatch review

“A Head-less Man in a Top-less Bar”, reads a photo framed on the wall behind journalist Joy Bag (Manoj Bajpayee) as the camera first spots him in the office of ‘Despatch’, the eponymous newspaper that’s on the roadmap of going digital. We catch him a tad resistant and sardonic about this upgrade, because he is still in the traditional print mode. His wavelength is not in sync with his colleagues – a showdown at a home party followed by a make-out with one his female buddy inside a car establishes him as a troubled guy. Meanwhile, one of his stories leads him to a dangerous abyss of investigation which threatens his life. Joy finds himself engulfed in troubled waters while breaking a story related to an unprecedented 2G Scam worth some thousand crores.

Kanu Behl’s films are never easy to watch. In addition to being stupendously psychosexual in nature, they budge us into claustrophobic spaces and personal turmoil. I must admit that this is his most sanitized film. Set in the urban space, it eschews the filth of Titli and sexual voyeurism of Agra. Apparently, Kanu started working on ‘‘Despatch’’ during 2016. The 7-8 years of arduous research shows in his work which transcends the conventional thriller template of fiery journalism and its ramifications. ‘‘Despatch’’ is deeply layered, bold and brutal. It's on-the-face tonality, dark-lit milieu and a heavily vulnerable protagonist makes it achingly realistic.

Manoj Bajpayee adorns Joy with complex layers and bares himself, both literally and figuratively. As uncharacteristic as it would sound for a journo, he is subdued and mellowed down rather than being flashy or flamboyant. Revealing his posterior in a couple of scenes and an unflinching acumen for approaching agonized characters, he proves that he is one of the finest and most daring actors around. He doesn’t mind a ‘Bloodbath’ (the title of his memoir in the film) if the plot requires him to do it.

But ‘‘Despatch’’ is not without downsides. Its inordinate length, slow-pacing and one-sided perspective of things makes it a tedious watch. Kanu’s self-indulgence also shows up while handling the marital discord between Joy and his wife, Shweta (played by Shahana Goswami). We are not given the reason behind their fallout. In one scene, Shweta forces herself upon Joy, making it look like a case of unhinged nymphomania. Goswami is saddled with a half-baked character who sits almost silent while a family meeting on their impending divorce meanders into alimony. Unlike debutante Arrchita Agarwwal who takes confident strides as Prerna, a vocal, heady and fiercely independent woman not compromising to her beau’s situation.