Dial 100's premise isn't exactly revolutionary, and the narrative and story technique is so lifeless that the film is effectively dead since the start. There isn't a single "twist" in the story that comes as a surprise or gives you goosebumps and I believe that's what thrillers are for.
Manoj Bajpayee starrer Dial 100 is a recently released web thriller on Zee5. Along with Manoj Bajpayee, Sakshi Tanwar and Neena Gupta are also seen playing a critical role in the film. The film is directed by Rensil D'Silva and produced by Siddharth Malhotra. Manoj Bajpayee is seen playing a cop role in the film which excites the audience.
The film starts with a rainy night where Nikhil Sood (Manoj Bajpayee) a senior PI officer heads to his control room where the colleagues chill with their daily shift. During his shift, Nikhil gets a call from his wife (Sakshi Tanwar) who is stressed for their 18-year-old son. Back to the shift, Nikhil's teammate passes on an emergency dialed call to Nikhil, the call was by a distressed woman (Neena Gupta) who mysteriously juggles with Nikhil. The mysterious call turns out and takes a tragic spin with Nikhil's personal life which later on endanger his family.
The plot was mostly about a mother's emotions, but the director failed to catch the emotional perspectives of both parents, instead of focusing on Manoj Bajpayee's cop persona, which was a miscalculation in terms of delivering the story to the audience. Despite the necessity for improvisation in the direction, the ensemble came through to save the film and make it enjoyable.
While the story failed to impress, the performances of the actor excelled. Sakshi Tanwar and Neena Gupta both performed wonderful mothers with strong emotional and physical portrayals. Manoj Bajpayee slays his persona as a cop, as he always does. Throughout the film, the actor has been seen as a potential and excellent character.
None of the dialogues particularly made an impact on me honestly, except for Manoj Bajpayee's opening dialogue "Jab 100 number dial karte hai log, kahin na kahin maddat ki umeed hoti hai logon mein." Also, the final interaction between Neena Gupta and Manoj Bajpayee is powerful and effective, and the conclusion leaves you sighing into the darkness. The music department did an excellent job as well, providing suspensive background scores instead of songs.
In a nutshell, the movie is rather perplexing; it lacks a sentimental point of appeal, and the tale required a great deal of powerful essence. Nonetheless, it is worth watching for the excellent ensemble and their outstanding acting performances.
Image source/Instagram/Manoj Bajpayee