Cleverly written screenplay, brilliant dialogues and wise performance, Zed Plus rolls in all into a good film, which despite being different from reality is relevant to the political and social system of the country.
Ratings- ***
Stars- Adil Hussain, Mona Singh, Mukesh Tiwari, Sanjay Mishra
Director- Chandra Prakash Dwivedi
Music director- Sukhwinder Singh
Director Chandra Prakash Dwivedi doesn't want to send any message through his over two hours drama but just gives an identical picture of a common man, who is victimized by the democracy, which sees nothing but the decorum of the nation.
Zed Plus here begins with the pressure arising on the current Prime Minister (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) whose government is about fall. Left with no option the PM is advised to visit the ‘Peepal Wale Peer Ki Dargah' in Fatehpur, Rajasthan to pay respect there, which may end up all of his problems. Luckily Aslam Puncturewala (Adil Hussain) gets an opportunity to be the Khadim of the Prime Minister on the day of his arrival. As expected the roads and local area is renovated before the ‘desh ke khasam-khaas' arrives in the village. And when the D-Day arrives Aslam leads the PM in the Dargah. Not surprisingly, the PM is blown away by this man's humbleness and so he asks him if he can do anything for him. A conversation follows, which is highly misunderstood by the PM and he orders a Zed-security for Aslam. So, the underdog is provided a refuge which big ministers and prominent personalities take a long time to claim. So, now how his fortune and life transform thereafter, Zed Plus narrates you this story further.
With few light-hearted moments in the beginning Zed-Plus slowly and gradually pierces a meaningful truth, which for some might sound abrupt but for some it will be a sheer art, which director presents beautifully.
From the lower class of the society, which isn't considered anything when it comes to nation's dignity, to the nexus of the central and the state government, Zed Plus touches upon many tiny yet quintessential sections skillfully. However, at times it feels like that we have seen such digs at the political system of the country in movie earlier but the novelty lies in its presentation, which is rather simple yet impactful.
Moreover, it's not that the movie is refrained from flaws and to keep the biggest of them at the top will be the English dialect, which our India Prime Minister is prone to. It's hard to believe that he doesn't know Hindi language. And even if the PM is presented as an alien to Hindi, Kulbhushan's English doesn't support him as he struggles to recount the ‘angrezi' words.
On the other side, Aslam's growing popularity with the Zed security tag becomes unbelievable after a certain time. His ticket to election in Rajasthan Rajya Sabha is an event, which is casually dealt with and is hard to digest.
But with these many loopholes we too overlook Sanjay Mishra's character, which is of a terrorist across the border and is mostly comical and the reason being to ignore these problems is that the movie is intentionally projected as a light-hearted entertainer, which doesn't bother about giving a serious judgment.
Even if there is clash a between Aslam and his brother Habib (Mukesh Tiwari) in the neighbourhood, it's still amusing and yet real. Director also focuses upon Aslam's romance with his ‘mashooka' (Ekavali Khanna) despite he has his begum Hameeda (Mona Singh) running a sandal shop and looking after their son.
What make such instances special are the cunning dialogues, which are mostly presented in ‘tukbandi'. It has no ‘dialoguebaazi' like in masala Bollywood flicks but its sheer play of words, which are quite enjoyable and each actor gives a perfect definition to them.
Adil Hussain is surprisingly entertaining. Not that we doubt in his caliber as he has always played his part very well in his earlier flicks like Life Of Pi, English Vinglish, Lootera to name a few but here he gets to show his various shades and he presents it with perfection. From an introvert puncturewala to an arrogant politician, Adil demonstrates all his parts well, which is also amusing at times.
Mona Singh as Adil's wife gives a performance, which will be considered as her best. Mona goes deeper into the character of a frustrated wife, who is angry by her husband's moves but at the same time supports him no matter what happens.
Mukesh Tiwari as poet gives a meaty performance of his life. Most of all it's his negative yet comic role, which we have been witnessing but here he gets to show more of his acting skill.
Sanjay Mishra's terrorist character is unbelievable yet he stays there to compliment the comic moments. Ekavali Khanna as Adil's love interest is equally good.
Music by Sukhwinder Singh isn't extraordinary but it supports every scene well. I'll go with three stars for Zed Security.
