Class of 83, streaming on Netflix, brings back Bobby Deol to the forefront. Directed by Atul Sabharwal and based on journalist S Hussain Zaidi’s non-fiction book The Class of 83: The Punishers of Mumbai Police, the film is a promising and entertaining cop drama. In simplers words, this film primarily deals with a senior police officer, who, from what it looks like, has had past trauma which has filled him with angst and frustration.
The story opens with the main focus being on a batch of students training at a police academy in the year 1983. Bobby Deol plays an angry cop who, to an extent, look phlegmatic but all of which is a culmination of his past trauma. This film shows a different Bombay in the early 80s, and how, at that point, the drug business was brought into being. So, you know what to typically expect out of Class of 83.
The main story starts with Bobby Deol forming an unsanctioned group of policemen who would be carrying out tasks of nabbing gang members off the record. Trouble starts to brew as these assigned policemen start to lose control of the situation and it all gets way out of hand.
What follows is an insipid plot where Bobby Deol, with his stolid and valorous persona, comes to the rescue of his ex-students. However, I do have to admit that this movie does not disappoint and ends on a very satisfactory note. Class of 83 is not a long film and is not overly dramatised. It is well balanced and it does not extend its narrative by getting to brass tacks of the underworld scene in Bombay.
Class of 83 is a heap of cliches but it still does not feel that way!
I will get real, Class of 83 carries a bag of banality but it carries it without making it seem like baggage. All the parts in the plot have been well-balanced and crafted in a way that it all fits the plot well. It calls itself a suspense thriller, but it does not feel like it. However, it does have suspense in certain portions.
It is entertaining and engaging even though it might feel like it has tons of platitudes. It is precise, concise and has a very matter-of-fact feel to it even though it is loosely based out of the novel. Personally, I have liked the way the story progresses and develops and its twists and turns.
Fresh talents on Class of 83 is why you should watch this movie
Bobby Deol and his co-stars have performed very well and look promising in the film. The screenplay is decent with realistic elements. The screenplay does a decent job at upholding the flaws and the gritty realities in each of the characters’ lives.
The whole story has sections where it has portrayed how each character has been influenced and driven by power, money and their desires. However, the swift change in the story will not feel like too much to take for the viewers. Bobby Deol’s part is mostly restricted to being an unimpressed and frustrated senior cop. A lot more could have been achieved with his character, it could have been nuanced and layered in a much better way.
Overall verdict, watch Class of 83 without many expectations. It is a decent watch and does not over-promise. It delivers exactly what it promises and maybe at times more than that.
Class of ’83 is a cop drama laced with adequate amounts of thrill and suspense but falls short to be placed in the category of a suspense thriller. For me, I think it has been rather refreshing to have Bobby Deol back on screen because this could be just the start of the promising second innings. Class of 83 might not be the best cop drama but is still stream worthy.
Class of 83 is streaming on Netflix.