Cast: Yami Gautam, Neha Dhupia, Atul Kulkarni, Dimple Kapadia.
Director: Behzad Khambata
Release Date: 2022-02-17
Language: Hindi
Rating: 4/5

A Thursday had me intrigued from the moment I saw the trailer. A female lead who took hostage of the kids in her own daycare - played by Yami Gautam - who keeps surprising with each performance. Add to the mix, Neha Dhupia, who shot the film while pregnant, and Atul Kulkarni, and you have the recipe for a film that you have to tune into. 

But does it work? Running just over two minutes, the film works it way through hostage taking and motivations and revelations. While some revelations can be predicted, others come as a shock. What I can say is this - that despite not having met the technical aspect of how a trained officer in hostage taking operates, the film keeps you hooked from the first frame to last. 

The screenplay is crisp, the dialogues are right, and the sound is great. The story and motivation is definitely compelling but the end of it all is slightly odd. The editing could have been slightly sharper to trim the film by about 5 or 10 minutes. 

The film truly works. Yami Gautam is ridiculously good - she uncovers another layer to herself as an actor and each scene shows her variation in expressions and body language. Neha Dhupia gets her job done, and kudos to her for sticking it out on a challenging shoot quite late into her pregnancy - that comes with its own set of challenges. Atul Kulkarni is a fine actor and proves himself again. Dimple Kapadia's role is short but effective. 

What A Thursday does is really strip down the essence of selfishness and politics even within the most well-meaning professions...and how the larger rat race crushes unwilling participants. Must watch.