Hunkkaar review: Aneet Padda delivers the performance of the year, Raghubir Yadav masterclass anchors crisp social drama
Hunkkaar review: Aneet Padda shows she is an actor, not just a star, while Raghubir Yadav gives a masterclass in restrained acting in this gripping show.
Cast: Aneet Padda, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Raghubir Yadav, Arjun Mathur, Zoya Hussain, Ram Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma, Charu Shankar, and Seema Biswas
Rating: ★★★★
It is noteworthy that the two actors whose performances stay with you after watching Hunkkaar are at opposite ends of the stardom and experience spectrum. At one end is Aneet Padda, the heartthrob of the nation since Saiyaara. Just two films and one series old, she is raw. With the hype around her, it is easy to forget what a compelling actor she is. Then, there is Raghubir Yadav, the veteran with five decades of experience on stage and screen. The man has played every conceivable role and yet has stayed away from stardom and glitz. These two carry this show, ably supported by a cast that gets the assignment. Karan D Kapadia and Nitya Mehra’s Hunkkaar is as much a legal drama as it is a treatise on human behaviour, and an indictment of India’s ‘injustice’ system. A well-crafted, well-told series that somehow slips through the cracks of this formula-led industry.
Hunkkaar review: Aneet Padda, the actor, takes centre stage in this gripping legal drama.
The premise
Meenu Rawat (Aneet), a 17-year-old student in Orchha, accuses the all-powerful self-proclaimed godman Sunil Chakosi aka Baapji (Raghubir) of rape. She is a student in his school; lives in his ashram, and her parents are his devotees. The accusation shocks the nation. ACP Jasleen (Fatima Sana Shaikh), a rookie IPS officer, is assigned the case, and she realises that in a country that worships godmen and assigns them all the power, finding the truth won’t be easy. Her biggest ally is a downtrodden lawyer (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), the only one brave (or stupid) enough to take on the case. Together, they must find justice before the mob or society at large gets to Meenu and her resolve.
Theatre of the Absurd
There is a pivotal moment in Hunkkaar when Aneet’s character reminds the court that she has recounted her assault 11 times so far. Directors Karan and Nitya ensure that each of these retellings is shown in the narrative. We hear Meenu recall her most traumatic memory repeatedly, in the same detached manner that she has adopted to protect herself. It gets uncomfortable after a while, and after a few times, it makes you pause. This theatre of the absurd brings out how sexual assault survivors relive their trauma countless times. Hunkkaar does this without any graphic assault scenes, without selling the trauma in a grotesque way, but still making the viewer relive the survivor’s pain, and also taking a jibe at the Indian legal system, where the process is often the punishment.
Deep Dive
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Movie Review
Hunkkaar
4/5
Legal drama
A 17-year-old girl from Madhya Pradesh accuses the all-powerful and revered godman from her town of rape, and all hell breaks loose. Now, a cop and a lawyer must help her fight for justice.
Director
Nitya Mehra and Karan D Kapadia
Cast
Aneet Padda, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Raghubir Yadav, Arjun Mathur, Zoya Hussain, Ram Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma, Charu Shankar, and Seema Biswas
Performances that stay
Hunkkaar’s biggest strength is its subtlety and finesse, most evident in its performances. Raghubir Yadav is the beating heart of this show. The veteran actor brings his decades of experience to this role, breathing life into a devious, sinister yet calm man who coerces through emotional manipulation and brainwashing rather than by force. The actor creates a villain who is always soft, using subtle changes in expressions to convey the most complex emotions beautifully. He has a worthy foil in Aneet Padda. All of 21 when the series was shot, the young actor uses her eyes to convey pain as easily as she shows defiance. This bubbling rage inside of her character erupts in that one monologue in the final episode, which might just be the scene of the year. With subtle voice modulation and pitch-perfect delivery, the actor showcases depth and maturity far beyond her years in Hunkkaar.
Fatima Sana Shaikh has a tough task, as she has to steer through these powerhouse performances without any great moments or monologues of her own, something most other characters get. But she is still up to the task, bringing to the fore her character’s zeal, frustration, and defiance deftly. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, as always, is impeccable. He channels the viewer’s rage while staying within the frustrating confines of a lawyer’s boundaries. Ram Kapoor, as his adversary, is a delightful addition to the stacked cast. Arjun Mathur plays an idealistic journalist, and the actor does get a raw deal with a character that is probably not as well-defined as many others, but he still stays afloat.
For me, the standout performers among the ensemble were Rajesh Sharma and Charu Shankar, who play Meenu’s parents. The seasoned actors ensure the characters are much more than just the stock ‘victim’s parents’.
A clutter-breaker
Streaming was meant to liberate Indian storytelling. At least, that was the Utopian idea a decade ago when it all began. But over the years, this ‘new’ medium has also fallen prey to tropes, formulas, and algorithms. Of late, it has also fallen prey to self-censorship, with makers and platforms not daring to attempt subjects that can cause ‘trouble’. All that taken into account, it’s a miracle Hunkkaar even got made, and no suit in a cabin vetoed it during its journey. That it got made so well after all that makes it a gift for the viewers.
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well.
A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism.
Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day.
Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More
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