In Car review: Ritika Singh’s survival drama leaves you drained instead of stirring your emotions

Director Harsh Warrdhan’s In Car is a pan-Indian film that has been released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

The makers of pan-Indian films usually bear in mind that they have to be sensitive to the sensibilities of the audiences. They also take utmost care of the language that the film is being translated into and yes, the credits.

Though the credits in the Tamil version of In Car are in Tamil, it’s surprising to note that the team didn’t bother to check the spelling mistakes before screening the movie.

This isn’t it! The film has a lot more to offer. Read through to find out what:

Synopsis

Three illiterates, one of whom is a convict on bail, return to their hometown in Haryana. Their vehicle breaks down and the trio, being the hoodlums they are, hijacks an SUV along with its driver.

The convict suggests that they kidnap a woman from the streets for him to satiate his sexual desires.

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While his elder brother advises him against doing anything stupid, their uncle — an equally uncouth and uncivilised criminal — wants his nephew to “celebrate” his freedom.

They abduct a girl from a bus stop in broad daylight. They keep molesting her while travelling in the car. They also keep telling her how they intend to rape her. What happens to the girl is what In Car is all about.

Sensibilities missing

As the film deals with a sensitive issue like rape, the story needs to be narrated with sensibility. However, what we get to see in it is an artificial and insipid reconstruction of the sequence of events.

For instance, in the scene where the girl gets abducted, there are many people around, including a woman cop who does not even care to react to the crime! This is despite the girl screaming and refusing to get into the car.

Next, in one particular instance, the car driver gets an opportunity to escape and sneaks away. However, he is shown returning for the sake of the girl.

One wonders why the man did not sneak away with the car key which was in his possession! Eventually, that would have meant that the kidnappers would have been left stranded on the highway.

Also, the driver doesn’t resist the three culprits for a major portion of the film. Initially, we believe it considering him to be just a driver. However, we later get to know that he is a retired police constable!

Several such questions come up in your mind but the film offers no answers, whatsoever.

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The male characters are made to speak some revolting, disgusting dialogues with sexual overtones throughout the movie.

These might have helped the director make his point. But then, those dialogues make the film a revolting affair and end up leaving the audience, especially women, disgusted.

Incar now in theatres near you. @inboxpictures@isajidqureshi @ritika_offl@Harshtalkies@sandeepgoyat19@jhanjholiamanis @venky112@actorsoni @DhoopAshwini pic.twitter.com/yHLGMm8XyQ

— Ritika Singh (@ritika_offl) March 3, 2023

Performances

Ritika Singh struggles to deliver a convincing performance as the girl who gets kidnapped and is repeatedly molested and constantly threatened to get raped.

One would have expected to see a mixture of fear, anger, worry and expectation written all over the face of a victim. Instead, what we get to see on Ritika’s face is occasional anger and a tinge of sadness.

Strangely, for the most part, she is not even seen fighting or struggling with her abductors. A more convincing performance could have saved the film.

Manish Jhanjholia, as the criminal who has been let out on bail, does a fantastic job though. He makes you hate him wholeheartedly with his antics and misbehaviour.

The others come up with decent performances but nothing that is outstanding.

Verdict

The movie, for the most part, is about five individuals in a car; three of whom keep molesting a woman and keep uttering despicable dialogues.

In short, In Car is just another film that leaves you drained by the time it ends.

(Views expressed are personal.)