By
KOMAL NAHTA
Shree Ostwal Films’ The UP Files (UA) is the story of a newly elected chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, who decides to correct all the wrongs in his state. How he goes about punishing the wrongdoers and winning the confidence of people forms the crux of the story. It is inspired by the tenure of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Stanish Gill has written a story that borrows heavily from the life of Yogi Adityanath. It may be an inspirational story but it is doubtful if the viewers would be keen to watch a film that presents what one reads in the newspapers and sees on television news channels all the time. Stanish Gill’s screenplay appears to be propagandist in nature and, therefore, fails to appeal to the audience. Gill’s dialogues are so-so.
Manoj Joshi does fairly well as Chief Minister Abhay Singh but to put the entire box-office burden of the film on his shoulders in nothing but foolhardiness. Manjari Fadnis is okay as police inspector Sujata Menon. Ali Asgar is as average as Umashankar. Ashok Samarth has his moments as Anis Khan. Milind Gunaji lends routine support in the role of Shadab. Anil George leaves a mark as Abdullah. Shahbaaz Khan is as ordinary as DGP Ajit Singh. Aman Verma is right as Sujata Menon’s husband. Vineet Sharma is okay as the new DGP, Suryavanshi. Avtar Gill has his moments as Guruji. Vaibhav Mathur is as average as Pandey. Others barely pass muster.
Neeraj Sahai’s direction is alright but he has not been able to make the film stand out as a non-propaganda film. Dilip Sen’s music is average. Song picturizations (Ganesh Acharya) are okay. Bapi Bhattacharya’s background music is functional. Anil Xavier’s cinematography is quite nice. Mohan Baggad’s action and stunt scenes are not very exciting. Sherwin Bernard’s editing leaves a lot to be desired.
On the whole, The UP Files is a flop show because it’s just not the time for a propaganda film.
Released on 26-7-’24 at Gem (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay through UFO Cine Media Network. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. The opening was weak everywhere.
