Despatch
just
goes
on
and
on,
sighs
Mayur
Sanap.
For
a
gripping
newsroom
drama,
Despatch
has
everything
going
for
it.
A
novel
premise,
a
potentially
thought-provoking
storyline,
and
an
immensely
talented
actor
in
the
lead.
Despite
these
genuinely
interesting
hook
points,
Despatch
feels
muddled
and
unexciting,
a
wasted
opportunity
for
the
subject
matter
it
had.
And
it
makes
even
Manoj
Bajpayee
look
boring
on
screen!
The
story
is
about
the
personal
and
professional
turbulence
in
Joy
Bag’s
(Bajpayee)
life,
a
crime
reporter
at
the
Despatch
daily
newspaper.
Joy
is
struggling
to
find
his
next
scoop
in
times
when
the
threat
of
news
digitisation
looms
large.
A
shocking
daylight
murder
occurs
and
the
headline-hungry
Joy
finds
his
big
opportunity.
At
home,
his
marriage
with
wife
Shweta
(Shahana
Goswami)
is
on
the
verge
of
collapse
as
they
keep
bickering
with
each
other.
Joy
is
having
an
affair
with
his
colleague
and
fellow
journalist
Prerna
(Arrchita
Agarwaal),
who
is
also
ghost-writing
his
crime
novel
and
is
planning
to
move
in
with
him
after
his
divorce.
As
the
drama
move
forwards,
Joy
finds
himself
getting
into
murky
waters
of
the
crime
underbelly
and
it
pushes
him
to
make
some
difficult
choices.
From
the
beginning,
we
know
Joy
is
a
morally
dubious
character.
Director
Kanu
Behl
and
his
co-writer
Ishani
Banerjee
don’t
shy
away
from
creating
a
protagonist
with
all
his
garish
flaws.
Joy
is
difficult
to
root
for,
be
it
with
his
rash
decisions,
dodgy
journalistic
ethics
as
well
as
his
manipulative
nature
with
women
around
him.
This
is
not
new
for
a
Kanu
Behl
film,
whose
Agra
and
Titli
also
had
morally
complex
men
as
protagonists.
In
Despatch,
the
efforts
feel
engineered
to
make
this
journalist
as
repulsive
as
possible.
The
premise
is
interesting
but
is
told
in
a
bland
way
that
never
keeps
you
invested.
We
are
subjected
to
convoluted
details
where
names
like
Sundaram,
Sylvia,
Wadhwa,
are
constantly
thrown
at
you
and
don’t
explain
much
about
the
story.
This
is
something
Sujoy
Ghosh’s
Kahaani
did
so
well
where
the
viewers
are
engrossed
without
undermining
the
tedious
nature
of
the
plot.
For
most
of
its
runtime,
Joy
is
just
meandering
aimlessly
and
we
are
supposed
to
be
on
the
edge
of
our
seats
waiting
for
him
to
scoop
out
the
answer
together.
But
we
get
no
major
revelations
or
new
piece
of
information,
it
is
just
a
few
questions
asked
here
and
there
and
suddenly
the
film
jumps
to
Joy’s
domestic
issues.
As
a
result,
the
drama
feels
completely
drawn
out
and
the
pace
feels
all
over
the
place.
You
wonder
how
good
this
endeavour
could
have
been
if
handled
correctly,
reminding
us
why
Hansal
Mehta’s
Scoop
was
so
watchable.
Manoj
Bajpayee
just
does
what
he
does
best,
and
that’s
not
really
a
shocker
to
anyone.
He
is
the
epicentre
of
the
film
and
too
experienced
an
actor
to
go
wrong.
But
there’s
a
monotony
setting
in
his
performance
that
reduces
him
to
just
a
generic
watch
here.
Debutante
Arrchita
Agarwaal
is
impressive
as
a
fierce
feminist
who
somehow
finds
herself
hopelessly
in
love
with
Joy.
She
manages
to
showcase
various
emotions
in
a
character
that
gets
the
short
end
of
the
stick,
just
like
the
other
two
women
in
the
film.
Shahana
is
left
to
put
her
acting
might
without
proper
characterisation
of
a
lovelorn
wife,
as
does
Rii
Sen
as
Joy’s
fellow
journalist.
For
what
was
supposed
to
be
a
slow
burn,
Despatch
just
goes
on
and
on.
By
the
end
of
it,
Joy
remains
mostly
clueless
about
what’s
happening
and
so
is
the
audience.
Despatch
streams
on
ZEE5.
Despatch
Review
Rediff
Rating:
