A
superficial
drama
that
never
rises
above
its
boring
sentimentality,
notes
Mayur
Sanap.
There’s
an
inherent
appeal
to
the
David
vs
Goliath
theme
as
narrative
device
that
depicts
the
journey
of
an
underdog
going
against
the
high
and
mighty
in
order
to
conquer
things.
Irrespective
of
a
film’s
genre,
most
of
these
films
can
easily
connect
with
the
audience
at
the
rooted
level
with
their
emotional
and
inspirational
qualities.
In
Director
Ashwini
Dhar’s
Hisaab
Barabar,
the
same
storytelling
device
is
placed
to
tell
the
story
of
a
common
man’s
fight
against
a
hefty
banking
fraud.
While
the
film
is
achingly
sincere
with
its
ambition
and
intention,
what
Hisaab
Barabar
lacks
is
smarts
and
wits
in
its
writing
for
an
effective
social
commentary.
R
Madhavan’s
Radhe
Mohan
Sharma/Sharmaji
works
as
a
railway
ticker
examiner
and
proudly
wears
his
morals
on
his
sleeve.
He
is
a
doting
single
father
to
a
son
after
his
wife
leaves
the
family
without
any
trace
of
contact.
Radhe
gets
a
rude
shock
when
he
notices
an
unreasonable
deduction
of
Rs
27.50
from
his
bank.
He
grows
paranoid
and
begins
to
question
the
bank
that
instead
snaps
at
him
for
dwelling
on
such
a
meagre
amount.
The
bank
is
owned
by
an
influential
person
Micky
Mehta
(Neil
Nitin
Mukesh)
who
hijacks
the
rules
to
cheat
his
customers.
Radhe
Mohan’s
paranoia
slowly
grows
into
suspicion
of
a
massive
banking
scam.
Radhe
teams
up
with
a
local
inspector
Poonam
Joshi
(Kirti
Kulhari)
and
learns
that
the
bank
is
cheating
its
account
holders
by
bluffing
around
the
promised
interest
amount
which
paves
a
way
for
a
financial
fraud
worth
thousands
of
crores.
Written
by
Ritesh
Shastri
and
Director
Ashwini
Dhar
himself,
the
subject
they
tackle
is
novel
and
interesting,
but
the
sloppy
drama
that
moves
the
plot
forward
reduces
the
impact.
It
almost
like
the
makers
are
aware
they
are
dealing
with
a
heavy
subject
matter
so
they
saddle
the
drama
with
a
series
of
clichés
for
easy
viewing.
These
detours
are
seen
in
form
of
a
generically
written
romance
between
Kirti
and
Madhavan,
oddly
placed
comical
gags
(featuring
a
credit
card-selling
bank
employee)
and
a
barrage
of
futile
side
characters
(which
include
an
overly
dramatic
Rashami
Desai
as
a
Bihari-speaking
soppy
neighbour).
The
film
doesn’t
even
attempt
to
interweave
these
multiple
sub-plots,
including
Radhe’s
estranged
wife
whose
character
is
mentioned
earlier
but
has
no
relevance
in
the
story
later
on.
It
makes
you
wonder
why
derail
the
focus
with
these
extra
bits
when
you
already
have
such
a
strong
central
story?
With
a
more
restrained
approach
and
tightly
woven
narrative,
Hisaab
Barabar
would
have
offered
us
a
sharper
look
into
how
the
bank
scams
work
and
their
far-reaching
ramifications.
What
we
get
here
instead
is
the
superficial
drama
that
never
rises
above
its
boring
sentimentality.
Hisaab
Barabar
streams
on
ZEE5.
Hisaab
Barabar
Review
Rediff
Rating:
