Despatch Review: When the Script Lets You Down, Manoj Bajpayee Keeps You Hooked
'Despatch' directed by Kanu Behl, will release on Zee5 on 13 December.
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The entirety of Despatch is a drawn-out look at power politics – a study into how power or the threat of losing it makes people act in unusual, and yet predictable, ways. Joy Bag (Manoj Bajpayee) is a journalist in ‘Despatch, Mumbai’ who is chasing the next big headline. Everyone he approaches warns him to not pursue the story but that only makes his resolve stronger till he finally has to take a step back and confront that he’s stepped into murkier waters than he intended to.
Manoj Bajpayee in a still from Despatch.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
As a crime reporter in a news daily, he can sense the underlying tension in his newsroom - it’s not just the rush and hustle-bustle that comes with journalism, it’s a quiet acceptance that they have a fight ahead. With the digital age at their door, they will have to fight tooth-and-nail to survive. And Bag, as you would expect from a character like him, almost seems to take it upon himself to win it for everyone. Bag is a protagonist so distracted by his own hubris that he crashes into things head first but this ‘power’ only comes out when he’s around someone he can push around.
When a misogynist yells at his girlfriend Prerna (Arrchita Agarwaal), he is meek and submissive – his excuse is that he’s trying to ‘handle the situation’ – but he has no qualms about subjecting his wife to violence. As the film progresses, you can’t help but question if he doesn’t stand up to the man because, at some level, he agrees with him. When something in his personal life goes wrong, he takes it out on someone in his professional life who has less power than him. After he has an argument with his wife Shweta (Shahana Goswami), he storms out and accompanies cops to a raid where he is beaten up.
Shahana Goswami in a still from Despatch.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
At his work, he has the upper hand – he has seniority and he has connections – and that’s why he runs himself to the ground for this new story. Here, he still feels ‘powerful’, still feels ‘masculine’. So Bag goes from a seemingly respected journalist to a man trying to find glory – the sheen around him is chipped away with every scene. With every new detail we learn about him, he becomes less likeable and that’s where Bajpayee comes in – he needs to keep the audience’s attention on the character even when everything makes them want to look away and leave him to his devices. And he succeeds because that’s just the kind of actor he is.
Bag, in his impulsivity, stumbles across scenes – especially action sequences and ‘undercover’ missions he isn’t qualified for – and Bajpayee knows how to find the balance between a ‘hero’ and a trapped animal. This is a difficult role – films have mostly delegated the ‘media figure’ into contrasting boxes. One is the determined, honest journalist who is fueled by ambition and the noble desire to speak truth to power and the other is the ‘vulture’ – preying upon everyone necessary to get the ‘scoop’. But Bag is different – he is neither – and that makes this character complex.
A still from Despatch.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
The issue with the film, however, is that the screenplay isn’t complex. This is a journalist trying to uncover the 2G scam and yes, we are told there are big, bad powers to look out for but the story doesn’t manage to feel engaging enough to actually make those stakes apparent. The film wants to capture Bag’s desperation – he doesn’t have the answers so neither do we – but the film is too long, and in places tedious, to pull that stunt off.
Then there’s the film’s confusing ‘gaze’ – Bag doesn’t exactly respect people who aren’t ‘useful’ to him, especially not the women around him. And that is going to be reflected in the way the film views the characters around him as well but there's a nagging feeling that the gaze remains impassive towards them.
A still from Despatch.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
For instance, why does a successful female journalist (played by Parvati Sehgal) agree to a joint byline with Bag even though she seems to have more information about the case than he does? That's not to say that she can't have her reasons for it – maybe Bag can function with an impunity that she can't – but we're left to fill in these loopholes on our own.
The pain the women in the film go through doesn't get a telling of its own – the empathy required to portray a character’s moral flaws vs the film’s own morality feels absent. They're at the receiving end of violence but most of those scenes exist only to add shades to Bag’s character.
A still from Despatch.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
The only respite is that the performers put their best leg forward, doing the script’s job. Goswami, for instance, is fantastic; she makes Shweta a better character than what the script gives her. Even when she's supposed to cower pitifully, she mixes in indignance.
At that point you're basically just going from performance to performance, trying to focus on the characters because the case details are too convoluted. You find yourself marvelling at the camerawork – the play of lights and shadows is impressive. The still shots that capture the rough-around-the-edges action sequences – men throw ill-aimed punches and trip over themselves – are some of the film’s most charming sequences.
A lot of times Kanu Behl’s film threatens to truly go off the rails and dig its nails deep into how messy a film like this can get but even with the more than two-and-a-half hour runtime, things remain just a few layers below the surface.