A Pointless and Unmitigated Disaster
London Confidential is the first mainstream film that was shot in London immediately after the lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic was lifted. This much-hyped thriller produced by Ajay G Rai and Mohit Chhabra is streaming now on Zee5
Story
A RAW undercover agent Biren Ghosh (Diljohn Singh) goes missing in London and later found dead just one week before an International Conference on Virology. The reason, Biren is in possession of a source and intends to expose the Chinese involvement in spreading the deadly virus.
Uma Kulkarni (Mouni Roy) another RAW agent who picks up the mantle discovers the presence of a mole among her staff as well as in the Indian embassy in London who are responsible for the leak of information which led to the death of Ghosh.
Finally, Uma who is supported by Arjun Manish Kumar (Purab Kohli) achieves the breakthrough they required in their investigation which unravels many dark secrets that surrounded the mysterious death of Biren Ghosh and others.
Performances of Actors
Mouni Roy’s OTT debut is forgettable. She neither had a character that showcased her talent nor did she have the scope to prove something due to shoddy characterization.
Purab Kohli though tried to put up a brave effort, he was left to play second fiddle without much importance except to snoop and shoot.
Only Kulraj Randhawa as Nirupama Das, the Ambassador of India in London, showed some semblance of performance in a contrived character but the finishing touch given to her character defies any logic.
Other actors including Pravesh Rana, Sagar Arya, and Mohan Kapoor fail to make any impression.
Direction & Technical Aspects
RAW needs to amend its service rules so that pregnant women are not deployed to lead critical missions that involve a lot of stress and physical strain.
The only silver lining is the line of the story which is around the deadly virus that played havoc across the world. But the story which was developed around this line is convoluted and the screenplay based on this story lacks clarity. So is the execution of the screenplay which is a big let down.
Moreover, the Chinese characters which appear here and there talking in Chinese (with subtitles) and with blank expressions made matters worse, making the film unbearable.
Music by Sanket Naik is non-existent. Photography by Ewan Mulligan doesn’t make any sense as the colour palette used all through the film is an eyesore and kills the interest.
On the whole, London Confidential creates more confusion and chaos rather than thrills.
Verdict & Rating
A hurriedly made film without a perfect screenplay and proper execution which is nothing but a pointless and unmitigated attempt. Although it’s an acceptable fact that the makers of this film have faced many challenges during the shoot, all that hard work and effort goes down the Thames as London Confidential doesn’t possess a single factor on the positive front that can be highlighted.
An out and out avoidable film which is pointless. If one out there has a better IQ to follow what’s going on the screen without getting confused, they can give a try otherwise a strict no.
