Despatch, which has released today on Zee5, is the story of a journalist, whose marriage is on the rocks, and who is all set to unearth India’s biggest scam. It is inspired from a real-life journalist’s life and is very well researched and detail. It is directed by Kanu Behl of Agra and Titli fame; he’s known for executing confrontational scenes with panache. Despatch is no exception and a few such scenes take the film to another level. At the same time, however, the narrative gets very complicated and messy after a point. Its 155 minutes long and yet, it gives a feeling that we have seen a 3.30 hours plus film. The director leaves a few important questions unanswered and hence, one feels mixed emotions when the film ends. Manoj Bajpayee, however, makes the film watchable with his performance. Shahana Goswami has limited screen time but she rocks the show despite essaying such a challenging character. The other prominent ladies in the film – Arrchita Agarwaal (Prerna), Rii Sen (Noori) and Hansa Singh (Nisha Lodha) – also thoroughly impress. Mamik Singh (Silva), Kabiir Sadanand (Wadhwa), Salim Siddiqui (Ameel bhai), Dilip Shankar (Rajdass; lawyer), Amit Srikant Singh (Softlayer manager) are there for just one scene and yet, they leave a huge mark. Veena Mehta (Joy’s mother) and Ajoy Chakraborty (Somak Majumdar; Joy’s boss) lend able support. All in all, Despatch has several plus points but because of the long length, complicated narrative and weak second half, it sadly turns out to be an average fare.
My rating – ** ½ out of 5!