‘Trapped’ movie review: We are in awe of this grasping survival drama

Directed By: Vikramaditya Motwane
Produced By: Phantom Films
Cast: Raj Kummar Rao, Geetanjali Thapa
Duration: 2 hours
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 4/5

Writing ‘Trapped’ movie review, and feeling so trapped. Feeling confined, captive; for my expressions are falling short to recount the attempts of survival that I just witnessed. One man and one room; that’s mostly all Vikramaditya Motwane took to keep us on the edge of our seats for two long hours.

Shaurya (Raj Kummar Rao) falls in love with Noorie (Geetanjali Thapa). Noorie, however, is about to be married off in a few days. Shaurya crazily hunts for a house so they can escape Noorie’s marriage and stay together. Destiny leads him to this empty flat in a multi-storey building; without any neighbours. Lady luck plays her next stroke with an evil grin. Just when Shaurya is setting off to bring Noorie to their new home, he locks himself in the house. Guilt-free, the key hangs on the door outside; swings in tranquil air. Inside, a man without electricity, food and water is desperately trying to get out.

We live in an age of connections and communications. It demands a filmmaker immense efficiency to craft such a story in 2017. But Vikramaditya Motwane has sealed every dubiety. The story flows so evenly that you almost start living it. Not once would you ask, ‘How is it even possible?’ Motwane exactly knows the art of convincing our senses. ‘Trapped’ is drastically different from his two earlier directorial stints, but what remains unchanged is his eyes of detailing and his ability of bringing out the rawest forms of emotions. And believe us or not, he didn’t forget to add the right quantity humour even in something as serious as a survival drama.

Not that first time that Raj Kummar Rao is doing wonders. ‘D-Day’. ‘Queen’. ‘Shahid’. ‘Aligarh’. ‘Citylights’. He stole the show and how! But this time around, it has gone beyond brilliance. With him, you know how desperate the efforts of survival can be. You do the most bizarre things to save yourself, when you know death might knock the door outside. Raj Kummar has done that with so much of conviction! He runs around the empty house looking for a single drop of water, and we bite our tongue. His voice cracks as he shouts ‘help’, and we shiver. He hallucinates a plate of piping hot pav bhaji, and we find our eyes moist. It is a crime to be this good! Geetanjali doesn’t have a very long screen presence, but adds commendable emotional quotient with her character.

‘Trapped’ would be incomplete without sublime technicalities. The film has been edited with minimum background music and almost nil visual effects. With those shaking frames, blurring sights and an echoing voice that dies inside an empty house, the story comes alive. Not spoiling the suspense for you, but it must have taken Raj Kummar so much nerves to do what all he did!

Move beyond a house; ‘Trapped’ will tell you how Raj Kummar Rao forever remains trapped in invisible strings of futile love as well. Do yourself some good and catch ‘Trapped’ this weekend!

P.S. There’s a really, really cute rat too! 😉

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