Morality is a convenient mask that most human beings drop the instant they're challenged by survival or self-worth. Interestingly, morality is also the least desired virtue for those who actually practice the profession of journalism. It's a veil that looks good on journalists, but the moment one of those scribes has to get down to business, that veil is the first thing to go into the office drawer. That's exactly how the lead character in Despatch functions. Joy Bag (Manoj Bajpayee) is an incorrigible and self-righteous prick. The only silver lining to this man is the fact that he's a tenacious reporter and a mama's boy. Rest of the way, he's a mysoginst and a rank idiot, with a passion for a page one byline. Director Kanu Behl and his co-writer Ishani Banerjee make no case for the viewer to like or appreciate the protagonist of their film. The result is that their press procedural is not an easy watch (Usually, Kanu Behl's films are not an easy watch anyway). It challenges the concept of tradition in cinema, wherein, there is no hero to root for. There's only a lead man, who can be detested, and 20 minutes into the film, you hope that by the end, he'll get his just desserts.The film does have an interesting story though. It uses actual realities like T20 cricket, 2G scam, D company, Chhota Rajan and the murder of journalist J Dey, to create a khichdi for its lead character - Joy to chronicle and decipher. The timeline of the film is roughly based around the same time that J Dey was murdered in broad daylight. A fair guesstimate would place the film somewhere around 2010 and 2011 - a time when Nokias and Blackberrys were all the rage and the iPhone and Android revolution hadn't gathered momentum. So Joy, working for a newspaper called Despatch, sets out to get his editor two sensational page one stories. One is of the murder of a currency broker named Shetty, while the other is of a murky connection between a real estate firm called GDR and the 2G scam. Joy's investigation reveals that the GDR story has ties to the honchos of T20 cricket as well and it's all a juicy, newsy proposition that Joy cannot say no to.
So far so good. Looks like Joy might have an adventure akin to Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler or the viewer might end up with a soul shattering, newsroom drama like the 2015 movie Spotlight. But that's not how things play out with Joy in Despatch. Instead, this film segues into Joy's problematic relationships with his wife Shweta (Shahana Goswami), mother, girlfriend Prerna (Arrchita Agarwaal) and protégé Noori (Rii Sen). A man who can't respect the women in his life is not an alien subject to anyone on the planet. But Despatch presents this truth in the most brazen fashion. It's almost unappetising and that could be a problem for many viewers.
It's also not easy to watch Manoj Bajpayee breathe life into a character, that is so morally ambiguous, that he makes Thanos from the MCU movies seem like a saint. There's plenty of sex scenes and tactfully shot bare body shots in this movie, too. You'd definitely not want to watch this one with the family or kids. It's a gentle reminder that Despatch, like most Kanu Behl movies, is not a happy or easy watch. And truth be told, that's exactly why it's a movie that deserves a strong recommendation. It's so unlike anything you're used to watching that it will feel surreal and disjointed. But for connoisseurs of cinema and those who have an eye for detail, Despatch with its lovely production design and artistic cinematography, will make for an interesting watch.
For the average OTT aficionado, here's a tip. If you reminisce about the time when the morning newspaper was an intrinsic part of your daily household, Despatch will feel like a sucker punch. If you've grown up with notions like journalism of courage and press being the fourth pillar of democracy, Despatch's bend towards the decline of journalism will feel like a betrayal. Regardless of whether you're a boomer, millennial or Gen Z, you will unequivocally agree to the fact that Manoj Bajpayee, Arrchita Agarwaal, Rii Sen and Shahana Goswami's performances in Despatch are flawless. The movie as a whole though is a niche product, only for those discerning viewers who can make head or tail about an old headline that stated, 'Headless Body In Topless Bar'.
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