Stolen review: A taut thriller that never lets you breathe easy

At a time when 'Pan-India' movies with larger-than-life action heroes in the lead are ruling the box office, debutant director Karan Tejpal's film Stolen seems like an unusual thriller. It has two brothers helping a woman they have just met, find her missing baby, amid the sand dunes and by lanes of Rajasthan, as locals, cops, and thugs chase them and try to blame them for a crime they have not committed. The film, all of 90 minutes, is one of the slickest and edgy thrillers that Indian cinema has produced in recent years. There is not a single dull moment in this film, and an excellent screenplay backed by great performances by the three leads- makes Stolen a must-watch.

Plot of Stolen

What starts off as two separate incidents in a lonely railway station somewhere in north India, soon becomes a story of chase through the hinterlands. A sleepy Gautam awaits in his swanky SUV for his younger brother Raman’s arrival outside a railway station. In the same railway station, Jhumpa Mahto is sleeping with her five-month-old baby, who is kidnapped by a woman. Raman happens to briefly cross paths with the kidnapper at the station. As Jhumpa wakes up, realizes, and cries out looking for her lost baby, commotion ensues. Police get involved, Raman says he may have seen the kidnapper, even as Gautam tries to take his brother away from the commotion. The brothers somehow get involved in the case, first with the police wanting to interrogate Raman as the prime witness and later because of their own moral obligation to help the impoverished woman find her baby.

What follows is a chase through ravines and sand dunes and narrow alleys of villages within Rajasthan and old, abandoned havelis as Raman and Gautam realize that there is more to the case than just a missing baby. What begins as a mere search for Jhumpa’s lost baby slowly turns into a night that changes the perspectives of the two brothers on life and the system at large.

What works

The last time I was on the edge of my seat watching a survival story like this was back in 2015 when Navdeep Singh’s NH10 was released. Stolen, has the same framework, and keeps you hooked and even slightly anxious through the 90 minutes of its runtime. The film’s taught screenplay by Gaurav Dhingra, Swapnil Salkar-Agadbumb and Tejpal is backed by super performances by actors Abhishek Banerjee, Shubham Vardhan, and Mia Maelzer. Banerjee’s reluctant man stuck in an unprecedented situation owing to his brother's ac,t comes out convincingly. Banerjee has come of his own, from his days as the mentor in The Pitchers to now stealing the thunder from terrific performers in Stree 2, it has been quite a journey for this casting agent. The actor is very assured as Gautam- a man who in the course of a night realizes that the expensive watch he wears and SUV he drives are just a hogwash in the larger scheme of things, that his privilege can be an agent of catalyst for change for some one who needs help and is impoverished.

Shubham Vardhan, as the wide-eyed, empathetic Raman, is also a scene-stealer. He knows he has the privilege to help and acts as a catalyst in changing Gautam’s perspective. Vardhan and Banerjee share great onscreen chemistry , which alleviates the narrative. Giving them company is Mia Maelzer, who sinks her teeth into the character of a helpless woman, fighting the odds and a language barrier as she tries to find her baby. Her act is raw, earnest, and very much in tune with the narrative.

Stolen works on so many levels. Not only does the film keep you hooked from its first frame till the last thanks to solid writing by Karan Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra, and Swapnil Salkar, it also makes you think of the privileges you are born with, it makes you wonder about the what ifs in life, and so much more, but the narrative never becomes a jargon or sermon on issues. The message is delivered amid a lot of chase and hide and seek ,but effectively.

What does not

Only a few flaws in between an overall solid script. One can’t help but wonder how Gautam can speak Bengali when it isn’t his mother tongue. Also, the two brothers go missing a night before a big family wedding, and nothing is shown on whether the family starts looking for them when they don’t come home. The flaws, however, can be overlooked because of the urgency with which the story unfolds, making it an edgy, slick survival thriller.

Stolen has been lauded at various film festivals before its India release, and the film, devoid of any songs or big A-listers, stands out as one of the best thrillers of the year.

Don’t miss at any cost. Stolen is streaming on Prime Video.