Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Awesome Movie

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I had accidentally watched this movie and i was expecting nothing but i was blown away by this movie,this movie is great in so many ways,screenplay is very good and the performance of Naseeruddin is just another level and Anupam Kher has done really good job,it is a realistic,relatable and shows how frustrated the common man is

Like many other people, the reason I came to watch "A Wednesday" was because it features in the current IMDB top 250 list. The film was also necessary viewing for the top 250 lists of 2016 and 2017 previously. I was quite confused, and immediately sceptical, as to why this 2008 Indian film was only recently coming into the spotlight. For most other movies, this usually indicates a film of high quality. However, as my 5/10 (average) rating suggests, "A Wednesday" is a film FAR removed from the quality required to merit such a position. It is notable to say that of the 198 films I have seen of the current top 250, this film has received the lowest rating from myself.With that context in mind, I shall now talk about my assessment of the film. The most egregious aspects of "A Wednesday" are definitely in the "action" set pieces. The physical confrontations (one interrogation scene and another chase scene) are woefully uncoordinated to the point of parody. The acting in these scenes fall under heavy scrutiny, unfortunately, as a direct result of this and is entirely unconvincing. The sound editing is perhaps the worst part of these scenes (it sounds like it's come directly from a children's toy/soundboard). It is so jarring that it would have undermined the action scenes even if they had been well choreographed. The special effects are also unconvincing but, since it has a minute presence, it doesn't hinder the film too greatly. I am also unaware if there were budgetary limitations the film had in its making so I don't think it would be entirely fair for me to condemn it for that. Luckily, there is little action to corrupt the entire film but this has led to some reviewers stating that the film is a boring office set piece as a result. I'd be inclined to disagree as the film's premise out with the action offered the greatest potential that the film ultimately failed to fully fulfil. A further, but more pervasive "flaw" is in the film's editing. There is an overabundance of slow-motion footage and abrupt cuts. However, I would say that although the film's editing will come across as a bit cheesy it is still of an adequate quality. This could be as much a case of time working against the film if anything (although I doubt that is the case).I will now address the more positive aspects that the film has to offer. The acting from the main cast is decent for the most part; Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah play the police commissioner (Prakash Rathod) and the "terrorist" known only as "The Common Man" play off of each other well. The script is decent and has some interesting dialogue (one scene comes to mind were Rathod tests his officer's commitment to finding the bombs was a highlight) but I felt that the concept had a lot more potential than its final product. The villain's motivations were interesting and certainly more 3 dimensional than your typical action movie, however, again, I felt that they could have gone into more depth into his character. The conclusion seems to inspire a profound sense of patriotism in the Indian people (hence its high rating) when the two stars finally come together. Whilst understandable, I was a bit disappointed that they didn't go further with the moral conflict here and didn't attempt to provide a more nuanced argument. The film reminded me of the anime "Death Note" to some degree and I was hoping to see a high stakes battle of wits unfold similar to the likes of "L" and "Light Yagami" or between "Sherlock Holmes" and "Moriarty". The secondary villains (a group of terrorists) are played well enough but I felt that they were more 1 dimensional in presentation. I'd also finish by saying that the cinematography for the film is suitably engaging and the camera is dynamic enough to keep your concentration during the film's slower segments.I'd like to finish on a more positive note as I attempt to lend some support to this film. I noticed that "A Wednesday" had a 5.4 rating from the "top 1000 voters" on IMDB with the highest percentage (22.5%) of those giving the film a rating of 1/10. In the same way that I have criticised people who have overrated this film (resulting in its unjust placement in the top 250) I feel that I also need to criticise those who are being equally unreasonable in their negativity. Objectively speaking, this film does a lot of things fairly well and others poorly thus warranting its 5/10 (average) rating from myself. "A Wednesday" is a competently enough made film with a coherent story, decent acting and cinematography etc so it could DEFINITELY be a lot worse. I wonder how many top 1000 voters have seen the IMDB's BOTTOM 100 movies as a frame of reference. I've even seen top 1000 voters give the likes of "Jaws" and "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" 1/10 ratings! To summarise, this film is highly overrated on IMDB and shouldn't be on the top 250. At the same time, it is a decent enough movie which works well enough within its limitations- I doubt "A Wednesday" was made with the intent of becoming an all-time great film! Just a simple, honest thriller. I found it moderately enjoyable, if forgettable, and think it should be recognised as such. Don't take out your anger out on the film for its high rating, it's not its fault, so I just ask reviewers to be fair in their assessment. If you're the kind of person to give this film a 1/10 rating just to take it off of the top 250 then you're just being hypocritical! Be consistent and objective in your criticism and, hopefully, this will encourage others to do the same.

A Wednesday! opens with Mumbai police commissioner Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher) resting after a jog, describing in a voice-over that he is going to retire the following day. He goes on to describe the most challenging case he faced in his career.An unnamed man (Naseeruddin Shah) carries a travel bag, assumed to contain explosives, in the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station and proceeds to hide the bag in the restroom of a police station near the Mumbai Police headquarters. He then arrives on the rooftop of a building under construction where he has set up his base of operations, equipped with several sim cards, mobile phones and other gadgets. He calls Rathod and informs him that he has placed five bombs in locations throughout Mumbai and has programmed them to explode simultaneously within four hours unless the Commissioner gives in to his demands and releases four militants. In response, Rathod immediately alerts his team involved in intelligence research and surveillance, tapping all the available resources to trace the location of the caller. Meanwhile, the caller tips off television news reporter Naina Roy (Deepal Shaw), telling her to reach the police headquarters immediately as it is going to be "the most important day of her life". Rathod initially suspects the anonymous caller is bluffing, but his doubts are dispelled as the caller, to prove his seriousness and the police force's helplessness, reveals that a bomb has been planted in the police station right across the Police headquarters. He further scares them by calling the cell phone attached to the bomb but does not detonate the bomb. Just then Roy reaches the scene on the caller's instructions and reports about the situation.

Every Single actor in this film is seems to be perfect with their roles and did justice for they have paid for. The most amazing thing is the time duration is less than any masala movie of bollywood, which is only one and half hour with no songs or an item number. even after that viewers will never get distracted and loose interest in the film and every single character is seems to the core players in compilation of the story. The use of variant camera angles as well as so realistic locations with the emotional dialogs create great dealt of impact, attracts more attention and forms a bond between the character of common man and viewer sitting in front of the screen. Many of the things or facts shown in the movie being kept hidden like what was the occupation of the common man this is the question mark. Because he hacked the complete telecommunication security system and even hacker of an intelligence couldn't track him and somehow he succeeded. so that thing actually couldn't be the piece of cake for a common man. one more thing what I have noticed is in the sequence when the police officer briefing to the team in the office about the militants and their background activity on projector the last man he has shown with anonymous profile was Naseeruddin shah. The picture he projected was of the common man. so was there any connection between the militants and common man? that is unclear. Over all it is really hard to find any flaws in this type of storytelling in such compact cinematography and reality based film. I recommend every one to watch it once.