The Sabarmati Report Review : Vikrant Massey’s Messy Movie

The Sabarmati Report, with its stellar cast of Vikrant Massey, Raashii Khanna, and Ridhi Dogra, manages to take on the task of telling the story of the 2002 Godhra riots from the perspective of investigative journalism. That’s pretty bold of a premise, if I may say so.

The execution then just goes to pieces: it wouldn’t have done if the promise of such nuanced and emotionally strong storytelling was only being made, for starters.

Missed Storytelling Opportunities

The story revolves around Samar Kumar (Massey), an investigative journalist who delves deep into the events and tries to reveal the hidden truths behind the riots, but the film’s narration doesn’t go deep enough, failing to explore the socio-political nuances.

The movie tries to maintain a neutral stance, but that just dilutes the impact, and the first-time viewer is neither presented with fresh insights nor provoked by the hard-hitting revelation in the movie. Since it is awkwardly vague to deliberately not take a stance on the matter, the film becomes boring; there is no possibility of relating to the subject at hand.

Script has discontinuity, where subplots start coming into play without actual relevance or are poorly explained. While Samar’s personal problems are meant to add depth to his character, they seem poorly forced into the movie and do not help much in terms of focus on the main case.

Similarly, Amrita Gill (Khanna) who enters as an amateur journalist has great promise but digresses into a cardboard cutout sidekick whose high moral compass seems at odds with the film’s strenuous exercise in ambiguity.

Performance- Mixed Bag

Vikrant Massey does well with himself, but nothing can save the weak script of this one. With Samar’s portrayal, Massey lacks the oomph to front a film that deals with such sensitivity.

Raashii Khanna does her best, but there is little to explore in the role on offer. Ridhi Dogra is particularly disappointing as a senior journalist; one wishes her character was more nuanced and not cut out as a cliched, authoritarian figure.

Technical Details

The cinematography, while competent, can’t, entirely and totally, do enough to earn the seriousness of what it aims to portray. The film relies too much on its visuals to make up for the thinness in the screenplay that it underperforms even here.

It appears gimmicky when it resorted to dramatic close-ups too often and slow-motion sequences – the issues with the narratives they should be accentuating. Background score is another failing that is too loud to overpower a scene that needed silence or understatement.

Themes Missed

The film tries half-heartedly to lampoon the influence of journalism in public narration but does not bring anything other than that. What it fails to deliver instead is a thought-provoking deconstruction of the ethical dilemmas posed by journalists; it becomes stuck on telegraphic tropes as the media turns either heroic or entirely ineffectual without worrying over shades. The final product is, therefore, a preachy and shallow movie.

Where it Falls Flat

The climax, which should be the film’s strongest moment, becomes a damp squib. Not placing responsibility at any particular entity means the film will abandon emotional resonance in favor of political correctness. It does not only strip the narrative from its own defense but also leave the audience dissatisfied and incomplete.

Verdict

With the kind of plot that the Sabarmati Report had, at best it could have been a bold commentary on one of the more harrowing chapters in modern Indian history, but with reluctance to take risks and coupled with weak script and underwhelming performances, it is an easily forgettable experience.

This film is due its credits for attempting to narrate a very sensitive subject, but the execution leaves much to be desired. For the viewer looking for a sharp cutting analysis of the Godhra riots and beyond, this film will be a disappointment.