Qaidi Band is an eye-opener and very well exposes the problem of overcrowded jails and how the system is being extremely unfair to those undertrials that don’t have money. But it’s not a depressing film as such – it’s entertaining, even light-hearted at places and there’s a music angle that also prevents the film from becoming too serious. But songs don’t work and it’s not convincing that the songs sung by the prisoners go viral since the tracks are not that great! Also, there are quite a few cinematic liberties after a point. But Habib Faisal’s direction is pacy and he manages to exhilarate viewers with the happenings in the film. Aadar Jain is a great talent and here’s hoping he doesn’t get relegated as poor man’s Pulkit Samrat/Ranbir Kapoor/Kartik Aaryan. Anya Singh too is an actor to watch out for – she dominates the scenes so well. The other band members do well, especially Mikhail Yawalkar (Rufi). Releasing Qaidi Band with so many films is a bad idea and there’s a fear that this well-made film might get lost in the plethora of releases of the week. But here’s hoping it manages to find an audience!
My rating – *** out of 5!