SECTOR 36 works due to its theme and dramatic moments

Sector 36 Review 3.5/5 & Review Rating

Director: Aditya Nimbalkar

Sector 36 Movie Review Synopsis:
SECTOR 36 is the story of a killer and a cop. The year is 2005. Prem (Vikrant Massey) works as a caretaker at a bungalow in Shahdara, Delhi which belongs to Balbir Singh Bassi (Akash Khurana). Balbir is based in Karnal, Haryana and rarely comes down to Delhi to live in his lavish bungalow. Hence, Prem is all alone and he abducts children from a nearby slum settlement and kills them. The parents of these kids complain to Ram Charan Pandey (Deepak Dobriyal), sub-inspector at Rajiv Camp Police Station. However, he doesn’t take these cases seriously. It’s only when Prem tries to kidnap Ram Charan’s daughter Vaidehi aka Vedu (Ihana Kaur) that he decides to pursue the case. An adult girl, Chumki Ghosh (Tanushree Das) is also missing, and she is last spotted outside Balbir’s bungalow. Ram Charan, thus, sets his eyes on Prem. But arresting him is not going to be a cakewalk. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Sector 36 Movie Story Review:
Bodhayan Roychaudhury’s story is inspired by real events and is quite shocking. Bodhayan Roychaudhury’s screenplay is smartly written and moves at a proper pace. However, there are a few blemishes in the writing. Bodhayan Roychaudhury’s dialogues are realistic, crude and hard-hitting.

Aditya Nimbalkar’s direction is splendid. It’s difficult to believe that as a first timer, he has been able to do such a fine job. The film deals with the killings of children and is not for the faint-hearted. Instead of making it a graphic and grotesque affair, the director briefly gives a glimpse of it. He relies more on dialogues and even silences to convey the disturbing goings-on. Getting the dramatic sequences right is also his strength. Some of the confrontational scenes stand out, be it Ram Charan getting angry at Chumpi’s father Harisadhan (Subir Bisawas) backstage and later at Balbir’s bungalow or Ram Charan admonished by his senior DCP Jawahar Rastogi (Darshan Jariwalla). However, the scene that takes the cake is the investigation of Prem. It’s almost 17 minutes long and the way the scene grips you is seen to be believed.

On the flipside, a few aspects are ambiguous, and it’s left to the viewers to decode them. It’s also unconvincing why Prem behaved the way he did during the investigation. He seemed like a well-informed person and should have known that such behaviour could cost him dear despite his boss having contacts in the right places. The final scene is interesting but again raises questions. Lastly, in a way, it’s a two-hero film but they don’t have sufficient screen space and there are times when they are absent on screen while other characters take over.

Sector 36 | Official Trailer | Vikrant Massey, Deepak Dobriyal, Dinesh Vijan | Netflix India

Sector 36 Movie Review Performances:
Vikrant Massey delivers one of the most accomplished performances of his illustrious career. He is known to often play positive characters, and he was loved by one and all for his portrayal in the recently released film, 12TH FAIL [2023]. But here, he’ll have the opposite effect as the audience will feel disgusted by his character. He gets the nuances and body language just right. Deepak Dobriyal, too, puts his best foot forward. He impresses the most with his silences; in a crucial scene, he hardly has any dialogues and the way he speaks through his expressions is praiseworthy. Akash Khurana and Darshan Jariwalla lend able support. Subir Bisawas leaves a mark in a small role. Kacho Ahmed (Compounder Chote Lal), Ajeet S Palawat (Constable Pathak) and Mahadev S Lakhawat (Constable Bishnoi) have limited screen time, and they do very well. Baharul Islam (Bhupen Saikia), recently seen in MAIDAAN [2024], is fair. Raghav Kalra (young Prem) and Fareed Ahmad (Prem’s uncle) stand out. Trimala Adhikari (Jyoti; Prem’s wife) is dependable. Tanushree Das, Ihana Kaur, Varun Bhiletia (Ali), Arun Marwah (Hiramal; old Jat), Sachin Lakra (Yogesh) and Monu Khatri (Rajbir) also do well.

Sector 36 music and other technical aspects:
SECTOR 36, ideally, should have been a song-less film. ‘Damru’, nevertheless, works due to the placement and picturization along with Mohit Chuhan’s voice. The other songs are forgettable. Ketan Sodha’s background score has a cinematic appeal.

Saurabh Goswami’s cinematography is splendid; the aerial shots are exceptional. Shivank Kapoor’s costumes are straight out of life. Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray’s production design are well-researched. Harpal Singh’s action is realistic and a bit gory. A Sreekar Prasad’s editing is smooth.

Sector 36 Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, SECTOR 36 is not for the faint-hearted and works due to its theme, dramatic moments and brilliant performances by Vikrant Massey and Deepak Dobiryal.