For a film filled with corrupt cops, mob lynching and neutral bystanders, at its heart, Stolen is optimistic. It operates in the genre realm of bleak hinterland noir but somehow manages to cling on to empathy. It poses rather hopeful questions. Are men really inherently good? Is their goodness just buried under layers and layers of pessimism shaped by society? Karan Tejpal’s directorial debut believes that humanity doesn’t need to be lost to an inhumane world. This viewpoint can seem quixotic when things around us become bleaker by the day. It’s still a viewpoint worth fighting for.Director: Karan TejpalWriters: Karan Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra and Swapnil SalkarCast: Abhishek Banerjee, Shubham Vardhan, Mia Maelzer and Harish KhannaOne night turns into a nightmare for brothers Gautam (Abhishek Banerjee) and Raman (Shubham Vardhan) as they try to help an underprivileged woman Jhumpa (Mia Maelzer) find her kidnapped infant. The baby gets stolen from a railway station, where Gautam has come to receive Raman. The brothers (at least one of them) wants to steer clear of any trouble. They have their mother’s wedding to attend. “Who’s wedding?” asks a flabbergasted cop as he questions Raman. This detail is not just for gags. Writers Karan, Gaurav Dhingra and Swapnil Salkar, subtly inform what kind of family Gautam and Raman hail from, one that is both loaded and liberal. Each brother, however, sticks to only one of these facets. Raman is the prisoner of his conscience while Gautam runs by apathy. As Jhumpa frantically searches for her baby, Gautam keeps away, arguing with a vendor on call over flower decoration. “I said orchids, not carnations.”Stolen can seem convenient at instances. Raman can come off as too do-goody, while Gautam seems to give in too easy. But once the film kicks in, it flies like a bullet. Out to find the infant, the brothers find themselves being mistaken for child-kidnappers. Soon their death warrants are signed by WhatsApp. Karan’s direction takes on a necessary, feverish urgency as mobs throng around the SUV Gautam, Raman and Jhumpa are in. The themes and the logical and moral flaws were soon jettisoned as Isshaan Ghosh and Sachin S Pillai’s camera-work grabbed me by the throat. A lynching scene is so gut-wrenchingly shot that it will send shivers down your spine. There is also an in-car sequence when Gautam and gang are being chased by a blood-thirsty, brainwashed mob. It is a low-budget copy of a similar scene from Children of Men (2006), but it is still something to watch out for.Stolen belongs to the Navdeep Singh, Sudeep Sharma brand of cinema which has lost its space on the big screen. It is raw, gritty and eye-opening. It’s privilege coming face-to-bloodied-face with the rest of India. Raman, Gautam and Jhumpa all undergo a stressful ride but what is most cathartic is Gautam’s arc. He is a stand-in for the gated society-dwelling urban Indian, who is quick to speed away if he spots an accident on the road. Who probably declares himself apolitical during heated discussions. Who thinks giving money is a way out of everything, but who soon realises that you can’t bargain with bigots. Abhishek Banerjee plays Gautam with an irritation, peculiar to those members of the upper class who have been momentarily plucked away from their bubble. His performance holds a journey inside. Shubham Vardhan ably embodies the fast extincting moral Indian, who heftily pays for a good deed, while Mia Maelzer lives Jhumpa, with a quiet rebellion.The film is inspired by a 2018 lynching case in Assam, where two urbane travellers were beaten to death by a mob who confused them for child-traffickers. In the era of information inundation, we, as viewers, have become numb to news and videos of mob lynchings. Hence, even though Stolen tells a tale of our time, it can feel dated, not revelatory enough. It is nothing you haven’t read already, scrolled past or posted stories about. It might not provide enough answers but it poses questions, which although repetitive, are still worth asking.
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