The effectiveness of any twist lies in its unpredictability. The shock value associated with the twist is intended to enrich the experience of film viewing in a matter of a few moments. And that is where Neeraj Pandey’s classic, A Wednesday, stands out. A Wednesday, released back in 2008, exemplifies how an exciting and unpredictable twist could make a simple film leave a lasting impression on the audience.
The film follows the story of ACP Rathod (Anupam Kher), who receives a call on A Wednesday from an unknown man (Naseeruddin Shah) who claims to have placed multiple bombs in Mumbai. Despite the best efforts of the police, they are unable to trace the caller. The caller demands the release of four dreaded criminals in exchange for information about the bombs.
It may seem to be a standard cat-and-mouse chase between the sincere inspector and the unknown caller. How the brave police managed to thwart the looming threat using their intelligence seemed to be the logical conclusion to the exciting premise.
But what follows next is something that hardly anyone could have foreseen.
The unknown caller sitting atop a building, plotting one of the most dangerous terror attacks, is eventually revealed to be a stupid common man trying to clean his house (country). His intention was not to provide a safe haven for the terrorists but to make a statement to stop testing the patience of the common man.
Suddenly, instead of rooting for the policemen to nab the unknown caller, you root for the common man, and the hatred slowly turns into empathy for him once his intentions are known. Needless to say, the iconic monologue delivered with perfection by Naseerdhun Shah gives you goosebumps. While the entire scene revealing the true identity of the common man was well written and resonated with most of the viewers largely for its social commentary, the greater impact it had, was a consequence of the sudden twist. It made the viewers pause and reflect on the extent to which a common man could go to protect himself (from acquiring RDX to plotting the entire blast).
With A Wednesday, Neeraj Pandey not only gave us an iconic thriller, but the appreciation for the film also paved the way for films like Special 26 and Baby that didn’t take the audience’s intelligence for granted and strived to always remain one step ahead of the audience.