Review: Bad treatment mars 'Kya Yahi Sach Hai'

Cast: Rajiv Roda, Bobby Vats, Shalini Chandran

Director: YP Singh

Sometimes you feel bad about the filmmakers who take up good subjects but fail to accomplish the task with fineness. Director YP Singh's 'Kya Yahi Sach Hai' is one of those films where technical glitches mar the core issue.

The film is based on the 2003 book 'Carnage by Angels' written by the director YP Singh. The central theme revolves around an idealist and fearless IPS officer Raghu Kumar (Rajiv Roda) whose arrival into the city of Kolhapur creates havoc in the hearts of drug peddlers and black marketers. The local public finds a hero in Raghu who has become an obstacle in the way of corrupt police officers.

As anticipated, he gets transferred to Mumbai, but this move does not deter Raghu from his resolutions. The Mumbai mafia tries every weapon in their arsenal but Raghu keeps cleaning the society with the aid from media.

Finally the police-businessman-politician nexus starts to operate together under the blessings of the Home Minister and a series of transfers take place till the media loses interest in the brave officer.

'Kya Yahi Sach Hai’ is a work of fiction but its presentation reminds of a documentary due to the extensive usage of typical police band music and actual locations. Although IPS Raghu’s story forms the crux but there are several plots in the film. At least three stories proceed simultaneously. The second most effective story is of the parasitic Mumbai Police Commissioner who is ready to stoop down to any level for the sake of his social prestige.

The character of senior IPS Rohit Tiwary (Bobby Vats) forms the third branch of the central storyline. The internal conflict and helplessness of Raghu and his wife (Shalini Chandran) is not in prominence but still contributes to the story.

The screenplay appears more like a stage play than a screen drama. The director has shown the guts to stick to the central theme throughout the film but bad acting and lack of high points in the script ruins the game for him. The story develops without any turn and twist and focusses on too many things. Simplistic dialogue writing and lack of proper characterization make the film absolutely normal.

The introduction of a middle-woman seems like a forced decision to show the character loopholes of police officers. The sequences involving touts and pimps could have been cut short as they appear as exercise to add glamour quotient by any means.

Rajiv Roda as IPS Raghu fails to steal the show. He might look closer to an actual police officer in appearance but screen acting demands god acting skills also. Bobby Vats has come up with a good show. Confidence shows in his mannerism and dialogue delivery. Shalini Chandran is acceptable but unfortunately the film has many more characters who have not managed anything more than loud screaming.

Other technical departments have also betrayed the storyteller. The cinematography department has left no stone unturned to puncture the director's vision. The camera operations look ordinary, especially in track and crane shots where one can notice the shake and other glitches quite easily.

The editor is no lesser than the camera person. 'Kya Yahi Sach Hai' flaunts repetition of shots. The cutting is also not very satisfactory. Initial sequences where a woman pours Kerosene oil and burns herself is a glaring example of jarring cuts. The woman’s oil drenched clothes go dry in just one shot.

The small budget of the film could be the reason behind below average background score and lighting. The director’s ineptness in handling the whole crew together results in the faulty eye line matching too.

The list of flaws in 'Kya Yahi Sahi Hai' could go on and on but the film is successful in its message. More than an IPS officer's struggle against the corrupt police force, this is an overview of the whole bureaucratic system which breaks the courage and dilutes the idealism of an honest officer.

The film may not be a great piece of art but 'Kya Yahi Sach Hai' will hopefully bring to you the subtle nuances of the corrupt Indian administrative system.