Rensil D’Silva’s Dial 100 is a fast paced crime thriller that tries to impart a variety of messages in the span of one night. While he delivers the characters to us, he often misses the mark in relaying the story itself which leads to the actors trying hard to carry the plot.
The lives of all the characters in this film change overnight as events begin to unfold in a domino effect, starting right from the police control room which receives a call from the suicidal Seema Pallav (Neena Gupta). Senior PI Nikhil Sood (Manoj Bajpayee) happens to take Seema’s call and is dubious from the beginning. We see him struggle with domestic problems at the workplace and the entire movie is one long conference call. Sakshi Tanwar plays Nikhil’s wife and a doting mother, grappling to deal with a rebellious teenage son.
Seema Pallav confesses to Nikhil that she lost her son in a car accident and is struggling with her own will to live and the urge to murder those who caused the accident. While Nikhil tries to follow the protocol in such distress calls, it soon becomes apparent that there is a much deeper angle at play and that Nikhil & Seema have a shared past.
The film takes us on a ride across Mumbai with Nikhil at the forefront as he tries to save his kin, playing the perfect family man (yes, we went there). Even though the plot unfolds within just a few minutes into the film, the feeling of thrill is still maintained.
While the film tackles several key social messages surrounding corruption, power, drug abuse, and morality; we see equal importance given to mental health and the power of grief. D’Silva lets the audience be the judge and jury for whether revenge is the best course of action when justice is not served.
Dial 100 in its entirety is akin to a full circle with the closing scene back in the control room where it all began.
Manoj Bajpayee, Neena Gupta and Sakshi Tanwar give stellar and convincing performances with excellent chemistry between them even though the film does not have the three of them share frame for most part.
Dial 100 is now streaming on Zee5.
