Shadow Assassins, Review: If ULFA cannot get you, SULFA will

India’s north-eastern state of Assam has always been a hotbed of militancy. Here is an excerpt from a 27 January 2022 report published in Outlook, by Nitin A. Gokhale

“In a major fratricidal attack, militants of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) killed 14 of their former comrades, known collectively as SULFA (for surrendered ULFA) in upper Assam's Dibrugarh district, on Thursday morning. Ten other SULFA members were injured in the attack, described as daring and skillful by security agencies.

According to Assam's minister of State for Home, Pradyut Bordoloi, some 50 SULFA members had assembled at the Moran Club this morning to discuss formation of an NGO when two car-loads of ULFA militants armed with hand grenades and automatic weapons AK-47 rifles descended on the meeting venue, surrounded the former militants and fired indiscriminately killing 12 of them on the spot, while 2 others died on the way to Assam Medical College. The assailants, who had come in two vehicles, fled immediately after the attack.”

Such is the stuff the film Shadow Assassins is made of. It centers around one family and the beloved of the youngest among three brothers. Naturally, it has violence and gunnings, not to mention explosions. If these were to suffice in making a film interesting and compelling, Shadow Assassins would have ranked very high on the cinematic quotient. Fact is that the film fails to keep you on the edge of your seat with its violence and thrills and also fails to carry you with it in the drama and love angles. Overall, it is a case of noble intentions but below the mark execution.

Shadow Assassins is the story of a young ambitious boy, Nirbhay Kalita, who gets sucked into the world of vengeance when his entire family is assassinated by masked killers and the police do nothing in the matter. He is studying in Pune and comes back for a holiday to Guwahati, the capital of the state of Assam. Here, he gets kidnapped and his kidnappers want to know the whereabouts of his brother Mridul, who joined ULFA a decade ago. Nirbhay, fondly called Nir or Neer, has no idea about the whereabouts of his brother Mridul, neither does his other brother, a doctor. Mridul has never contacted his family in any manner in ten years. The kidnappers are holding another person captive, whose body is found near the river. Nirbhay is rescued, but now the police want to know the whereabouts of Mridul, and keep grilling him and his doctor brother, Dhiren.

Fearing for his life, Dhiren asks Nirbhay to go back to Pune, cutting short his vacation. Nirbhay leaves for Pune, and the very next day, his entire family is gunned down. Even his beloved Rimli is shot, but has a miraculous escape, although she remains unconscious for many days. Nirbhay joins ULFA and swears vengeance on the 10 men who killed his family. With the help of an informer, he is able to trace one of them, and through him, all ten. He hides in camps considered safe-houses, but he embarks on a trail of vengeance, to kill all ten. Meanwhile, he has married his beloved and fathered a child, Niloy. The mother is very wary of his visits and tells him to avoid coming to their house, lest he have an adverse effect on the little child. Nirbhay has managed to kill seven of the ten shadow assassins, when the police raid his hideout, loaded to the teeth with arms and ammunition.

Director Nilaanjan Reeta Datta (a two times National Film Award winner, and a graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India, FTII) joined hands with Navnitaa Sen, Rahul Kapoor and Sid Mahajan to form Finchbill Motion Pictures, which has produced this film, Datta’s Hindi debut. Incidentally, Datta has written the story himself, which borrows liberally from the real-life happenings. As many as 300 killings were reported in Assam during 1998-2000, attributed to the war between ULFA and SULFA. Nilaanjan Reeta Datta and Rohit Kumar’s screenplay is weak. Those who know about these killings through the media will find little new in it while those who do not know may not care as much as they should. One reason is that Assam is very far away from the rest of the country, and the second reason is that the events are 22-24 years old. The only two ways the screenplay could have worked are if they had made a gripping documentary or an edge-of-the-seat thriller. The scenario presented to us is half baked, tilting on either side. There is plenty of emotion and drama, nevertheless.

One misses a really intense ideological debate about the two factions, much more than the passing pronouncements of the factions. Merely chronicling their murderous missions, with negligible rationale,  does not engage the audience. The girl’s miraculous escape appears a cliché, even if it is based on a true-life incident. It is a dark chapter in Indian history, revisited, but certainly not the epilogue of the book about terrorism v/s the state. The run-ins continue. Dialogues by Raghav Dar and additional dialogues by Bhushan Ingole do not ring true. The Hindustani spoken by the native Assamese speakers has a strong accent, which is fine, but it is too much when they spout Hindustani idioms. Within the Kalita family, members speak with different accents. It seems illogical that Nirbhay’s wife Rimli feels that his visits to see his baby boy will have a deleterious effect on him. The baby is too small to get so affected. One can understand if the baby was 7-8 years old, at least. What she should be worrying more about is Nirbhay’s safety, for his visits might make him a target for the Shadow Assassins.

Now let’s look at the performances. Anurag Sinha (Black and White, Prisoners of War - Bandi Yuddh Ke, Kaun Banegi Sikharwati and Mannphodganj Ki Binny), is passable as Nirbhay Kalita. Mishti Chakraborty (Kaanchi: The Unbreakable, Adam Joan, Brihaspathi, Burra Katta, Manikarnika) as his love interest is bright. Rakesh Chaturvedi Om as the police inspector plays it the way we have seen a 100 films portray the police – in very bad light. Hemant Kher shows requisite emotions as Dr. Dhiren Kalita. K.P. Sandhu has a small role as Neeraj Deka, from the SULFA gang. Saharsh Kumar Shukla, Soumya Mukherjee, Akash Sinha, Ranjeev Lal Baruah, Stuti Choudhury, Mrigendra Konwar, Ranjita Baruah, Violet Nazir Tiwari (delivers as a concerned mother), Bibhuti Bhushan Hazarika (the poker-faced editor who will not carry Rimli’s true story) and Rohit K.P. (Chinmoy, Nirbhay’s best friend, a friendly portrayal) lend able to not so able support.

Music by Ashu Chakraborty is a highlight, in spite of some very awkward lines. Vocals by Javed Ali and Zubeen Garg (Assam’s gift to the nation) lift the score. Cinematography by Gargey Trivedi is a little blurry at times. Film editing by Navnita Sen offers us cuts on gunshots as a motif. Well, at least she keeps the length to 125 minutes. This Adults Only fare is not for the common man and will appeal to a niche audience. Shadow Assassins of Assam needed to be assisted by a tight script and assembled in a more competent manner, with associated material used to better effect.

Rating: **      

Trailer: https://youtu.be/E8Evi11IL00