Even Hollywood struggles to make a stylish action film that is also comprehensible. Dhaakad, then, is a triumph in getting those two things right, in ditching the melodrama for sparse bloodletting, is heading to the relatively new location of Bhopal and its environs, setting the mood by dipping into the coal mines there, and even in giving us a glimpse of life in that city with its mixed communities who coexist peacefully. It shouldn’t be so uncommon, yet it is.
While much has been said about Dhaakad (a formidable name indeed) being India’s rare woman-centric action film, it is actually two women – Kangana Ranaut as the protagonist Agent Agni, and Divya Dutta as Rohini, the brains, financial mind, emotional support, and much, much more of a criminal ring dealing in coal and women trafficking – who do the majority of the heavy lifting here and do it pretty effortlessly.
Even though the Dhaakad directors are clearly gunning for Agni’s fighting abilities and Rudraveer’s villainy, portrayed as hamming over-effect by Arjun Rampal, the two confrontations between Agni and Rohini are the film’s highlights. We’ve grown accustomed to Rampal’s eccentricities, which include tattoos, rings, fur-lined long coats, and creative hairstyles.
But it’s Kangana Ranaut who steals the show as a solemn, subdued agent fleeing a troubled past, contrary to what the film’s trailers might suggest, and contrary to how the performer seems to see herself lately. Dutta is, without a doubt, excellent. And her part as Rohini, a former prostitute who now leads the enterprise with an iron hand, little mercy, and a lot of guile, suggests layers and layers that demand their own picture. Unlike the immaculate cleanliness of a Kathiawadi, this kothewali gets her hands dirty, talks dirty, and knows dirty.
Agni became an agent following a tragic episode from her childhood when her parents were shot by a man she just vaguely remembers. She is now leading the Agency’s investigation into a trafficking ring originating in central India and extending as far as Budapest (which keeps turning up as if it were a backyard to Bhopal) and a Sheikh with a Middle Eastern background.
Agni leads the hunt from Budapest to Bhopal and beyond, with local Bhopal resident Fazal assisting her (Sharib Hashmi, of The Family Man fame). For obvious reasons, Agni is immediately drawn to his motherless daughter Zaira.
However, what appeared to be a routine extraction and termination operation turns out to be everything but, as Rudraveer and Rohini unleash havoc with the help of their own informers.
Dhaakad does not surprise when it enters the twists and turns area and becomes a one-woman revenge saga. Whatever you throw at Agni, we know she’ll bounce back, no matter how unlikely or unbelievable it seems.
If the first 20 minutes of Dhaakad are rip-offs of Hollywood’s assembly line action movies, with people killing and dying before you’ve even sat down for your popcorn, the latter 20 minutes are an exercise in overkill.
The fact that the middle holds up so well is a testament to the film’s performances, efforts to create human characters, and a tale that moves along effectively (credit to debutant director and co-screenwriter Razneesh Ghai). We learn about a medical ailment where a person’s heart is tilted more to the right than normal, which saves their life at one point. The heart of Dhaakad is in the correct spot.