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Contains mild violence and languageA flagrant copy of the Denzel Washington starrer John Q, Tathastu stars Sanjay Dutt as a desperate father who is forced to take hostages at gunpoint until his ailing son receives a heart transplant. A serious commentary on the class divide, this is hardly escapist stuff. But with a coherent script, convincing dialogue, good performances and technically spot on scenes, Anubhav Sinha's thriller is certainly watchable. It's not groundbreaking cinema, but neither is it an overly arduous experience.
Ravi Rajput (Sanjay Dutt) is a working class man, raking in a meagre income at an automobile factory, and living a simple, but contented life with his wife Sarita (Amisha Patel) and young son Gaurav (Yash Pathak). However, their world is turned upside down when Gaurav collapses on the cricket pitch and is diagnosed with a serious heart condition. Faced with mounting bureaucracy and a lack of funds, Ravi resorts to desperate measures to save his son's life.
"NO MARKS FOR ORIGINALITY"
Thankfully, John Q isn't given the full Bollywood treatment, and we are spared an emotionally laden drama of unpalatable proportions. The writers succeed too in integrating social comment in the storyline without being overly didactic. Aided by a good supporting cast, Sanjay Dutt ably conveys the growing desperation of the helpless father. Amisha Patel however, appears to opt for movie star glamour over serious characterization. While Tathastu scores no marks for originality, it does work on some levels, evoking strong emotions in anyone placing themselves in the protagonist's shoes.
In Hindi with English subtitles.
