HIT: The First Case – 2022 Hindi Action Thriller

Movie Name: HIT: The First Case
Directed by: Sailesh Kolanu
Starring: Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra, Shilpa Shukla, Sanjay Narvekar, Jatin Goswami
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller, Drama
Release Date: 15 July, 2022
Running Time: 130  Minutes
Language: Hindi
Rating:

Film is a Hindi remake of Telugu cop drama HIT.

HIT: The First Case is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language 2022 action-thriller film written and directed by Sailesh Kolanu, starring Rajkummar Rao and Sanya Malhotra. It is produced by T-Series and Dil Raju. The film is a remake of the 2020 Telugu film of the same name.

The film is scheduled to be released theatrically on 15 July 2022.

Principal photography commenced on 12 September 2021 and wrapped up on 18 April 2022.

HIT: The First Case Movie Trailer:

HIT: The First Case Movie Review:

Rajkummar Rao brings his A-game in this gripping, edge-of-the-seat thriller

HIT The First Case isn’t simply one of the many Hindi remakes of south films floating around. The film, which delivers a sharp, if slightly over-the-top murder mystery, is much more than that. For starters, it sets up a potential franchise, the future of which will be determined by this film’s box office numbers. But beyond that too, HIT is a well-made thriller that keeps you guessing till the end, a quality which today’s whodunnits seem to have lost. The Rajkummar Rao and Sanya Malhotra-starrer is a throwback to old-school Bollywood thrillers that keep you glued to your seat throughout its 136-minute runtime. Also read: HIT The First Case trailer: Rajkummar Rao is a cop in search of girlfriend Sanya Malhotra.

HIT follows Vikram (Rajkummar), a police officer, who struggles to deal with the demons from his past as he navigates the horrors his job throws at him. Vikram is diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) due to the violent death of his wife. But he is thrown in at the deep end, after a missing persons case causes his girlfriend Neha (a forensic expert played by Sanya) to go missing, as well. Now, Vikram has to race against time to find out how these cases are linked, and can he save both the girls.

The Rajkummar Rao and Sanya Malhotra-starrer falters and lags in parts, but has enough juice to be an enjoyable, taut murder mystery.

The film begins rather tentatively with three separate tracks that act as preludes, introducing us to the characters and the back stories. But they seem rather disconnected and hence, the first half hour of the film feels too loose. However, it isn’t boring, even if it lacks context initially. But as the investigation begins, the film really begins to come into its own. It throws red herrings in your face, but quite subtly, and you begin to doubt every character quite soon.

The thrill aspect of HIT can be favourably compared to some of the other good Bollywood thrillers of late, most notably Drishyam (interestingly, another south remake). The action, suspense, and the tense and loud background score keep you on the edge of your seat for almost two hours. It also very smartly portrays the protagonist’s brilliance. In showing that he is smart, the plot does not belittle the other cops or show them as bumbling buffoons, which many a films have been guilty of. Everyone is competent in varying degrees, Vikram is just a notch above the rest.

The depiction of PTSD and panic attacks is good, but does tend to get repetitive soon. There are only so many times you can see a person being out of breath due to the same trigger, over and over again. I do understand it has been done to show just how much Vikram is affected by the trauma of his past, but after a while, the scenes begin to give a sense of déjà vu without adding much to the narrative.

There is one other flaw though. The emotional scenes and dialogue come across as superficial. At times, it seems that the actors are merely reading lines from the script, without emoting, which puts you off. But one can’t fault the actors there because the same performers are brilliant elsewhere. So I will have to chalk this one down to Sailesh Kolanu’s direction and Girish Kohli’s dialogue. Both these things are brilliant in parts, and amateurish in others, giving the film a patchwork quilt-life feel, which is lesser than the sum of its parts. This inconsistency is what stops HIT: The First Case from being truly a must-watch.

But do watch it. If nothing else, watch it for Rajkummar Rao. The actor has to shoulder much of the burden of the film as it almost completely revolves around him. Aiding him are competent actors like Dalip Tahil and Milind Gunaji, who all do their part well. But it’s Rajkummar, who steals the show. The tortured-yet-brilliant cop investigating a puzzling case is a genre in itself by now. We have seen this trope far too often to expect something new. But Rajkummar does that. He brings out the vulnerability of the character, including his fears and hesitation and not merely his anger, which many other such portrayals focus on. Vikram is battling his demons, and you feel for him, almost beginning to think like him as the film progresses. It truly takes you into the mind of your protagonist. I do have a complaint though. Sanya Malhotra has too little screen time. Whatever scenes she gets, she does justice to them. But I do wish, the film had spent more time establishing the lead pair’s bond so that her going missing really feels big.

HIT: The First Case is guilty of leaving many questions unanswered. Vikram’s history and his trauma are never fully explored, and then the film inexplicably ends on a cliffhanger, setting the stage for a second case. Considering a sequel to the Telugu original is under works, this one will probably get one too, even though it doesn’t really need one. There was ample time in the film to resolve all plot lines here. In fact, as the cliffhanger approached, I did feel if the tone and the feel of the film was more OTT, than big screen. Maybe HIT would have been more at home as a four or five-episode season of a web show. It is still a great watch but I do feel it could have been so much more.

Movie Plot of original Telugu film:

Vikram Rudraju (Vishwak Sen) is a police officer in the Telangana Crime Investigation Department and works in the Homicide Intervention Team “HIT”. He is very smart and sharp and solves crucial cases with his ability to capture even the smallest of details, thus earning the trust of his senior Viswanath (Bhanu Chander). He is in love with Neha (Ruhani Sharma), his colleague and a forensic official. Rohit (Chaitanya Sagiraju) is Vikram’s close friend and his colleague, who accompanies him in most of his cases. Vikram is constantly in an argument with Abhilash (Maganti Srinath), another officer, who crosses lines with Vikram. Vikram occasionally suffers from PTSD due to his past experience and refuses to take pills as he believes it slows down his abilities.

Meanwhile, a girl named Preethi (Sahiti) is driving on the highway, and her car stops to the side because it suffers a malfunction. Officer Ibrahim (Murali Sharma), stops to help her, and she calls her father since she forgot her phone at her home. When her father comes to pick her up, he sees that she has gone missing and Ibrahim says that she got into a blue car and he thought it was his car. When Preethi’s parents approach Ibrahim demandingly, he remains firm and insults them. Being a good friend of Preethi’s parents, Viswanath decides to suspend Ibrahim because of how he acted and since he does not believe him.

Vikram decides to take a six month break to relieve his PTSD attacks. After two months, Vikram gets a call that Neha goes missing. He decides to go back to Viswanath and ask for the case file for Neha going missing, but he says Abhilash is dealing with the case, and he cannot give it to him. Vikram decides to ask Shinde (Brahmaji), who is Neha’s colleague, about the cases Neha has dealt with the past two months. Vikram and Rohit connect Preethi’s and Neha’s missing case and deduce that the same person is involved in both cases. Vikram decides to investigate, and he asks Srinivas (Ravi Varma) for Preethi’s case, and he takes over the case. Meanwhile, Abhilash has suspicions that Vikram was the one who kidnapped Neha. Vikram decides to go to Preethi’s college, and he asks Ajay (Trish) and Sandya (Jaiyetri) about what happened the previous night, and they say the same response how they were at a pub. Vikram and Rohit ask both Preethi’s parents, and they say that her parents died in a plane crash and she was living with them and Preethi’s neighbor Sheela (Hari Teja) about her. Vikram and Rohit start deducing the case, and they come to a conclusion that Sheela kidnapped Preethi after they see Sheela’s blue car and a note forged by Sheela indicating the whereabouts of Preethi’s corpse.

Ibrahim then sees the car and says that Sheela was not the one who kidnapped Preethi. Vikram and his team dig up the body behind the house and find that it is unnoticeable and it has a few DNA samples on it. Vikram suspects Ajay because he said that Preethi was his girlfriend. Vikram using the toll gate security cameras he deduces that the man who kidnapped was Fahad (Ravi Raja). After Vikram, Abhilash, and Ibrahim find Fahad, Ibrahim is shot dead by Fahad while Vikram and Abhilash capture him. Fahad takes them to the house where he received the money to kidnap Preethi. Vikram finds out that it was Rohit’s house, and before Rohit shoots him, he shoots him dead. Rohit’s wife Swapna (Naveena Reddy) comes down while Abhilash goes upstairs and gets Neha. Swapna explains how Preethi, Swapna, and her sister were orphans and how a rich couple from US came to adopt one of them. Swapna begs Preethi to let her sister get adopted due to a hole in Swapna’s sister’s heart. Preethi does not renege and is adopted, and moves out with the couple. Swapna’s sister dies within 2 years due to insufficient medical treatment, and since then, she had blamed Preethi for it. Recently, Swapna then sees Preethi in a club and gets her kidnapped. She then kills Preethi and has Rohit bury her and plant DNA evidences. Swapna gets arrested.

In the closing scene, While Neha and Vikram are talking, Vikram almost gets shot. It is then hinted that the story would continue in HIT: The Second Case.