Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande (2011)

Crude execution of a subject matter can be extenuated by the force of the intention, good one at that, behind it. That’s precisely what makes Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande a film one wouldn’t like to trash. Emotions aside, the movie has a few gems of moments sprinkled across its coarse canvas, and credit for it goes to actor-turned-director Pravin Dabbas, making his directorial debut with a film that may not be a piece of path-breaking cinema but is nonetheless an engaging take on a topical issue.

The issue is of land acquisition for developmental projects. It’s a contentious subject with strong arguments for both sides of the debate, but Dabbas angles towards the humane side where people’s love of their land (equated to their mother) is put on a higher pedestal than the gloss of money. And seeing to this end in the movie are four galat bande.

Four friends Rajbir (Parvin Dabbas), Sexy (Vansh Bhardwaj), Ambani (Ashish Nayyar) and Doctor (Kuldeep Ruhil) are given to a life of petty crime and kidnapping. They are drawn into a swirling game of power and deceit when government plans to acquire the land in their village. On the one side, they have the avaricious Fauji (Sharat Saxena) offering them sweaty wads of money to help govt acquire the land, on the other their conscience pricks them to side with the villagers. So they play the double game of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. Now the question is, who will come up trumps in this power game, the hare or the hound?

It is here Pravin Dabbas opts for a convenient conclusion to a problem that’s deeply complex. However, one can’t help but appreciate the effort Dabbas makes in coming up with a film that has the earthiness of a Ram Gopal Varma crime thriller and the quirkiness of a Dibakar Banerjee comedy. The performances by the quartet of actors go a long way in shoring up Dabbas’ amateurish execution. The songs too don’t stand out like sores.

Not so much for its finesse but its intention, one may take out time for Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande.