Blackout Review: Dumb Charade


Vikrant
Massey
is
a
man
of
undeniable
talent.
But
he
too
can’t
rise
above

Blackout
‘s
derailed
script
that
reduces
the
likes
of
Jisshu
Sengupta,
Chhaya
Kadam
and
Mouni
Roy
to
chumps,
observes
Sukanya
Verma.

You
know
how
an
air
of
flippancy
envelopes
kids
rehearsing
a
school
play
where
the
silliest
of
ideas
are
construed
as
adventure
and
the
slightest
of
bungle
sets
off
a
room
full
of
nervous
giggles?

Or
imagine
a
game
of
dots
and
boxes
where
you
just
keep
drawing
lines
between
the
dots
anywhere
in
the
grid
and
corner
the
opponent
into
letting
you
capture
a
box.

Or
how
about
Rachel
Green’s
Thanksgiving
trifle,
where
a
little
mixing
up
of
sweet
and
savoury
recipes
created
a
bizarre
combination
of
custardy
dessert
and
shepherd’s
pie.

What’s
the
point
behind
these
utterly
disconnected
thoughts?

Watching
Devang
Shashin
Bhavsar’s
directorial
debut

Blackout

brought
to
mind
these
utterly
random
analogies
but
with
none
of
the
camaraderie,
intelligence
or
hilarity
of
the
above.

Trippy
black
comedies
fuelled
by
freewheeling
plots
or
ones
that
make
something
up
as
they
go
along
make
for
a
wacky
joyride
in
subversion
and
dark
humour.
But

Blackout
‘s
daffy
aspirations
refuse
to
up
the
ante
of
a
potentially
devious
premise
beyond
a
puerile
practical
joke.

What
follows
is
a
night
long
misadventure
against
the
backdrop
of
Anil
Kapoor’s
vigorous
voice-over,
Pune’s
moody
rains
and
a
host
of
kooky
characters
engaged
in
crime
and
comedy.

It
all
begins
when
Vikrant
Massey’s
spirited
crime
reporter
and
sting
operation
specialist
(as
one
of
its
many,
MANY
flashbacks
makes
sure
to
remind
us)
steps
out
of
home
in
the
middle
of
a
widespread
power
cut,
to
run
an
errand
and
comes
across
an
overturned
van
full
of
dead
guys
and
copious
loot.

Surprisingly
the
moral
compass
of
this
corruption-busting
journo
is
easily
skewed
as
he
doesn’t
bat
an
eyelid
before
taking
off
with
the
booty
until
a
road
accident
decides
to
play
party
pooper.

With
writer-film-maker
Bhavsar
in
no
mood
to
offer
bare
minimum
context
to
Massey’s
wicked
impulses
beyond
good
old
greed,
the
focus
shifts
on
the
multiple
characters
that
become
a
part
of
this
trip
to
nowhere.

A
sozzled
tramp
spewing
cheesy
poetry
at
the
drop
of
a
hat
(a
comfortably
numb
Sunil
Grover),
a
pair
of
thuggish
influencers
(real
life
digital
creators
Karan
Sudhakar
Sonawane
and
Saurabh
Dilip
Ghadge),
a
damsel
in
distress
(Mouni
Roy),
a
shady
politician
(Chhaya
Kadam)
once
part
of
Massey’s
sting
operation,
a
sleuth
(Jisshu
Sengupta)
saved
for
the
third
act…

And
some
more

a
bribe
accepting
cop,
a
deadpan
repairs
uncle
with
a
gift
for
testing
people’s
patience,
a
gangster
straight
out
of
a
Snoop
Dogg’s
fashionable
music
video,
a
wife
waiting
to
satiate
her

anda
pav

craving
and
a
best
friend
lying
through
his
teeth,
characters
like
traffic
signals
pop
up
every
few
seconds

That

Blackout

isn’t
done
with
its
introductions
until
interval
point
tells
how
chaotic
the
storytelling
is.
Truly
though
it’s
the
lack
of
wit
and
bonhomie
that
puts
a
spoke
in
its
wheel.

‘I
don’t
feel
good
about
this,’
a
character
whines.
‘Do
you
need
Pudin
Hara?’
retorts
his
companion.
The
level
of
humour
can
be
judged
by
this
exchange
alone
or
the
makers
wanting
us
to
feel
mightily
amused
by
the
slogan
on
Massey’s
tee,
technically
his
wife’s

B**ch
please,
I’m
a
unicorn.

Save
for
Sonawane
and
Ghatge’s
rascally
influencers
and
their
devil-may-care
quips
around
a
shrill
setup,

Blackout
‘s
mindless
game
of
dumb
charade
has
little
excitement
in
its
bag
of
pea
brained
tricks
and
stereotypical
betrayals.

Vikrant
Massey
is
a
man
of
undeniable
talent.
But
he
too
cannot
rise
above

Blackout
‘s
derailed
script
that
reduces
the
likes
of
Jisshu
Sengupta,
Chhaya
Kadam
and
Mouni
Roy
to
chumps.
Rather
it’s
the
first
dialogue

The
End

uttered
by
Massey
you
recall
the
most
while
waiting
for
the
moment
to
finally
arrive
in
this
hokum
whose
clumsy
film-making
is
as
glaring
as
its
sloppy
attempts
to
camouflage
a
Japanese
car
logo.



Blackout

streams
on
Jio
Cinema.



Blackout

Review
Rediff
Rating: