‘Anek’ Review
Anek marks director Anubhav Sinha’s next venture in his robust collection of socially relevant stories and his second collaboration with Ayushman Khurana after his last film, Article 15. Where Sinha’s Article 15 tackled India’s caste system, Anek aims to bring light to India’s North-South conflict. A topic paramount to the nation yet severely underdiscussed in Hindi cinema, Sinha makes a brave attempt to raise some contentious questions. How successfully he does so is another question.
Sinha’s story is set in an unnamed North-Eastern state and revolves around its leading militant leader, Tiger Sanga (Loitongbam Dorendra Singh) and an undercover cop, Joshua (Ayushmann Khurrana) who effectively serves powerful, self-interested Indian politicians who have vested interests in signing the peace accord. However, a separate active rebel group named Johnson is born into fruition and begins to stand in the way of Joshua’s mission.
After a string of critically revered films in Mulk, Article 15 and Thappad, which dealt with issues from domestic abuse to religious extremism to India’s caste system, Anubhav Sinha has placed himself as the face of important, impactful and socially relevant storytelling, Anek marks Sinha’s next attempt in this space. While there is no doubt of the importance of telling stories around Northeastern Indian issues, particularly in an industry which tends to shy away from such topics, it is Anek’s storytelling approach which seems to be lacking as opposed to Sinha’s previous ventures. Anubhav Sinha, Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani’s screenplay fantastically introduces the issue but their screenplay is let down in its execution. Why? There is simply too much to be told in a 147-minute feature film. There is the love story between Ayushmann and Andrea, the establishment of the rebel group Johnson, the real issues faced by people of Northeast India such as Niko, the unseen politics going behind the curtains, Aido living a parallel life fighting for India and against it at the same time. Sinha has a brilliantly extensive range of topics to highlight, but one begins to questions whether these might have been more appropriate showcased as a web series.
On a more positive front, Anek marks the return of the flawless duo of Ewan Mulligan and Yasha Ramchandni for cinematography and editing respectively, who had previously worked on Article 15. The duo beautifully capture the chilling feel of Northeast India through drone shots cutting their way through the smoke of clouds.
From an external lens, Ayushmann Khurrana absolutely nails the physicality of an undercover cop, from his rough cargos to lighting cigarettes, but he is let down by the film’s convoluted plot which doesn’t allow him the opportunity to connect with the viewers. Despite the screenplay’s shortcoming, Khurrana flawlessly demonstrates the conflict between his commitment to his mission and his relationship with Aida, played by Andrea Kevichüsa. Andrea, a model from Nagaland, shatters the debate of region-based representation in the films, and convincingly plays a boxer from Northeast India, but similar to Ayushmann’s character, the dialogue prevents her from conveying the drama and emotions which this film could have portrayed. Kumud Mishra and Manoj Pahwa are the unlikely stars of the show and create a uniquely portrayed Macchiavellian aura throughout the film. Mipham Otsal as Aido’s father Wangnao delivers a sincere performance while Loitongbam Dorednra Singh as Tiger Sanga manages to communicate effectively through his actions despite the language barrier.
While Anurag Saikia’s songs are mostly forgettable, Mangesh Dhakde’s background score flawlessly exudes chills in every scene.
Overall, Anek is by no means a shoddy attempt to explore an unspoken about topic. It is just clear that it would have made for much better storytelling if it were made in a different form on a different platform.