Inkaar
Year: 2013
Director: Sudhir Mishra
Cast: Arjun Rampal, Chitrangada Singh, Deepti Naval, Vipin Sharma

Say the word- ‘Sexual harassment’ and I am immediately reminded of the Hollywood saga Disclosure with its crackling duel between Demi Moore and Michael Douglas. Even its Bollywood copy Aitraaz (directed by Abbas-Mastan and featuring Priyanka Chopra, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor) was quite interesting. Now Sudhir Mishra’s Inkaar tries to use that theme. How does it come across?

What’s the plot?

The influential CEO (Arjun Rampal) of a leading advertising agency stands accused of sexually harassing his female colleague (Chitrangada Singh), who is the agency’s National Creative Director and a Board- member. A social worker (Deepti Naval) is sent to investigate the matter, along with the agency’s internal committee. As both the involved parties start explaining their sides, the committee faces a real dilemma. They are unable to judge who exactly the guilty party is.

Is the aggrieved lady making up the whole story? Is the CEO being maliciously framed by his former protégé-cum-lover? Or is he really taking out his frustrations and harassing her?

What’s hot?

·         Sudhir Mishra convincingly shows the ad-world’s glitzy exterior and its dark corporate underbelly.

·         The back-and-forth narrative told from both male and female perspectives, keeps the first half interesting.

·         Vipin Sharma impresses in his short but sharp role.

What’s not?

·         Overall, the film is slow and it often seems like revolving in circles.

·         Lead actors – Arjun Rampal and Chitrangada Singh, look good but  thanks to their limited acting armoury, don’t add any edge to the on-screen drama and intrigue.

·         The direction and plot-writing is unsure of how it wants to resolve the conflict and decides to keep it hanging.

Verdict

‘Deep-rooted love in a world full of conflict and corruption’ has been Mishra’s recurring central theme in films such as Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi, Khoya Khoya Chaand and Yeh Saali Zindagi. Even Inkaar carries forward that trend.

Despite some hot sensuous scenes, Inkaar never manages to build up any electricity or tension between the warring parties, which is a prime requisite for a film such as this. It focuses much more on the male-female egos and the corporate power-games, rather than exploring the sexual exploitation at the work-place. Its ambiguous stand and the average lead performances turn it into a none-too-memorable experience.