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Hisaab Barabar aims to be a common man vs. the system film. However, at best, it's a casual second-screen experience, entertaining only when you don’t pay too much attention!
We often haggle with a vegetable vendor over a mere 5 or 10 rupees but how many of us notice, let alone challenge, the small sums quietly deducted from our bank accounts? These minor discrepancies may seem trivial, yet they accumulate, benefiting a system that thrives on our neglect. Hisaab Barabar attempts to resonate by addressing this issue, aiming to "settle the score" and expose the invisible losses we overlook — critiquing how we fiercely contest a few rupees in everyday transactions but stay passive when banks exploit us. Unfortunately, the film handles this critical message so superficially that it becomes just another social drama, too contrived to land its blow, fading into background noise as its powerful point is lost in the process.
The story revolves around Radhe Mohan Sharma (R. Madhavan), a middle-class ticket collector obsessed with honesty and numbers. Living in railway quarters with his son, Radhe once dreamed of a career in accountancy, but those ambitions died along with his father. However, his obsession with balancing the books persists. Whether it’s haggling over the price of oranges or spotting a ₹27.50 discrepancy in his bank account, Radhe’s meticulousness leads him to uncover a scam run by Do Bank, controlled by a villainous billionaire, played by Neil Nitin Mukesh who is channelling Jonathan Bailey. This flamboyant tycoon is more interested in dancing on the stolen money — whether at a lavish terrace party or in the middle of the street — than caring about the common people he exploits.
Radhe’s journey to expose the scam should, in theory, offer a compelling narrative of an everyman standing up to corruption. In an era of hustle, who has the time or energy to fight over a mere ₹27.50? Hence, the premise is undeniably strong—highlighting the idea that banks could quietly steal through unnoticed discrepancies in our everyday monthly bills like electricity, phone, or internet payments that most of us overlook, either out of apathy or the sheer hassle of combing through the fine print. In a world where people are conditioned to round off 99 for a 100, the film taps into an intelligent and relevant issue: how the system stealthily siphons off these small, accumulated sums.
However, the film stumbles in its execution, missing the opportunity to deliver an authentic narrative. Rather than tapping into the subtle power of a common man’s struggle against an unjust system, the film relies too heavily on exaggerated tropes and tired clichés, which feel misplaced in a story that could have been much more nuanced. Radhe is portrayed as a sanctimonious everyman hero, whose journey is rife with melodramatic threats—from endangering his son, bulldozing his home to losing his job. But this is done in such an animated, over-the-top way that it makes it hard to take his suffering seriously or feel any genuine emotional connection. Radhe’s motivations are clear but his journey is so predictable that the stakes never feel impactful. Even R. Madhavan’s portrayal feels more like a forced attempt to embody the "everyman" archetype, coming across as more of a righteous symbol than a fully realized character.
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The attempt to balance drama with comedy and romance to give it more entertainment value and flair feels misguided. Slapstick comedy, such as Radhe’s tussle with bank employees who then tussle with each other, feels more like a desperate attempt than an unintentional humorous situation. The romantic subplot with Kirti Kulhari feels awkward and forced, as does her role as a sub-inspector and Radhe's love interest. These unnecessary detours add little to the plot. It feels like the film is running on autopilot. Everything is formulaic and staged, from the overstated conflicts to the rushed quick-fix resolutions. Characters who had been passive throughout the film, even after Radhe attempted to expose the scam through a detailed explanation, suddenly rise to rally behind him, which seems like a more contrived change of heart.
This wake-up call, masquerading as a social message film, is just like the invisible discrepancies where a film is utilising a well-intentioned message to make it sound like a smart film. And the film, re-iterating its message of “hisaab barabar” and “common man’s problems” at every turn, cements its status of becoming background noise, one where things are spelt out for you, so much so that you hardly need to pay attention. Because if you do pay attention, the cracks within the film will be more visible than the ones within the system!
Hisaab Barabar is currently streaming on Zee5!
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