Twenty eight years after their first collaboration, Shiva (1990), if Ram Gopal Varma and Nagarjuna get together to make a high-on-action film, you expect something that will be a worthy reminder of their first outing that attained cult status. But, given the trail of films made by RGV in recent years, somewhere midway through Officer the thought that cropped up is, ‘at least this one is not an assault on the senses, so far’ rather than being wowed by what’s being shown on screen.
Officer has an interesting story, which the filmmaker reveals is based on real incidents. Hyderabad-based cop Sivaji Rao (Nagarjuna) is asked to head a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the ways of Narayan Passary, a cop credited with finishing off the Mumbai underworld, but who has now fallen from grace. It’s an insider perspective of the police force and its dark corners. Can a cop himself build another underworld company to avenge his contemporaries? Throw in a few personal relationships and you get the necessary emotional heft.
It sounds good as an idea but on screen, there are uninteresting stretches. It feels like we’re watching it from a distance without ever being invested in the proceedings. RGV has explored the crime-underworld-cops tropes before and excelled in his initial years, but this one doesn’t have the zing. Several moves are over-explained and there’s no surprise. In that scene where Passary is swiftly cornered and arrested, it’s doesn’t take long to guess that the tables will eventually turn. There isn’t enough backstory to these cops who are at loggerheads — one keeps harping that he did everything ‘for the system’ and that he likes to torture people before they die; the other is just squeaky clean. The occasional underworld characters are caricature-like rather than fearsome. One of them plays a double-edged game but that too isn’t explored well.
The only reason to keep watching is Nagarjuna, who tries his best to hold things together. For all his display of agility and professionalism as an SIT officer, one only wishes for a better script. Myra Sareen and child actor Kaavya don’t make a strong impression. And, it looked like the child actor was asked to display exaggerated emotions than being natural.
RGV’s fascination for unusual camera angles continues, thankfully they aren’t nausea-inducing. Several empty glasses are in focus — see a room through a glass, listen to a conversation through several glasses… there’s a scene where Nagarjuna is on a video chat with his parents who are seated at the dining table lined with two rows of empty glasses and an oddly-placed tomato. I don’t remember the conversation because the focus was more on the glasses and the tomato.
Officer also gets voyeuristic where it shows a close shot of the villain with pliers in his hand, threatening to splice off a child’s fingers. The camera turns away but we know he’s done it, because of the atmospherics. What were they thinking depicting such a sequence?
The best part is, it all gets over in a little more than two hours.
Officer
Cast : Nagarjuna, Myra Sareen, Kaavya
Direction : Ram Gopal Varma
