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Movie Name: Hisaab Barabar
Directed by: Ashwani Dhir
Starring: R. Madhavan, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Kirti Kulhari, Rashami Desai, Sukumar Tudu, Sachin Viddrrohi
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Release Date: 24 January, 2025
Language: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu
Rating:
Production Companies: Jio Studios, SP Cinecorp Production, ZEE5
Radhe Mohan, an honest TC working for Indian Railways, sets out to uncover a massive financial fraud by banker Mickey Mehta. As Mickey puts the entire system against Radhe, what lies next for him?
Hisaab Barabar: Movie Overview
‘Hisaab Barabar‘, starring actor R Madhavan in the lead role, is all set to premiere on ZEE5 on January 24. The movie will be available to stream in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
The makers of the film, announced the premiere date on social media along with a poster of the film. The caption of the post read, “Jab ek aam aadmi uthta hai, toh system hil jata hai. Fraudsters beware! Ab@actormadhavankarenge Hisaab Barabar! Rs #HisaabBarabar premieres 24th January, only on #ZEE5.”
The film had its first screening at the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa this past November, where it received positive feedback for its compelling storyline.
Directed by Ashwni Dhir, ‘Hisaab Barabar‘ is a story about corruption and systemic injustice. It follows the journey of Radhe Mohan Sharma (played by Madhavan), a dedicated railway ticket checker who stumbles upon a minor discrepancy in his bank account.
What seems like a small issue soon leads him into a deeper investigation, uncovering a massive financial scam orchestrated by Micky Mehta, a corrupt banker played by Neil Nitin Mukesh. As Radhe fights against financial fraud and systemic corruption, the film also explores his personal life, with a focus on how relationships, unlike financial balance sheets, cannot always be reconciled.
The movie also features actress Kirti Kulhari in a key role.
Produced by Jio Studio in collaboration with SP Cinecorp Production, ‘Hisaab Barabar‘ is directed by Ashwni Dhir and produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Sharad Patel, and Shreyanshi Patel.
Movie Trailer:
Movie Review:
R Madhavan does the math in toothless comedy
Directed by TV veteran Ashwni Dhir, this comedy on banking scams is tame and unambitious
Some films suffer from a surfeit of ambition. Others—like Ashwni Dhir’s Hisaab Barabar—have none to begin with. A middling comedy about the middle class, it tracks a common man’s crusade against fraudulent banking practices. A modest, toothless satire, the film boasts sitcom staging and visuals, lacking cinematic bite. No wonder it’s streaming on ZEE5, a platform with a near-magnetic affinity for mediocrity.
It’s like one of those spec scripts that lie around in production offices gathering dust; until, one day, for some inexplicable reason, they are hurriedly greenlit. Radhe Mohan Sharma (R Madhavan) is a senior ticketing inspector with the Indian Railways. Blessed with an accountant’s eye (and ethics), he spends hours pouring over his bank statements, fishing for discrepancies. When an alarmingly high sum of ₹27.50 doesn’t tally up in his books, Radhe raises a complaint with the bank. The officials he corners first feign ignorance, then try to fob him and other customers off with compensatory gifts.
It does not take long for Radhe to raise a stink. As he explains to others, the bank has been stealing from its customers, minuscule amounts that go undetected but run up to thousands of crores in black money. Radhe’s unflagging demand for lost coins turns him into an unlikely hero. Before long, he’s run afoul of the bank’s greedy owner, a boorish clown named Micky Mehta (Neil Nitin Mukesh). There is also love blooming on the sidelines: Kirti Kulhari plays an honest police officer and Radhe’s romantic interest.
The film, for all its blandness, makes a series of strong points: the intimidation tactics used against citizen activists like Radhe, the frustrating opacity of India’s banking sector, the digs at crony capitalism and rising costs. These are potent themes, but Dhir refuses to sharpen his satire beyond a point, muddying the legacy of his writing work on the iconic TV show Office Office.
The pathos in Hisaab Barabar is gratingly on-the-nose. ‘Republic Week’ is misspelt as ‘Republic Weak’, a corrupt politician (Manu Rishi Chadha) gets a body massage before a mural of Gandhi, and, since the hero is named Radhe Mohan, I wasn’t surprised when a herd of bulls showed up in a critical scene. Madhavan has eased comfortably into his everyman roles and appears to be enjoying himself. Kirti Kulhari, a fine actor, deserves a better agent. No agent can flip the fortunes of Neil Nitin Mukesh, a fossilized wonder from the 2000s, unchanged by time or talent.
43 years since Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, few Hindi films have managed to touch the helm of Kundan Shah’s great satire or replicate its comic corrosiveness. Hisaab Barabar highlights the strains on the Indian middle class, yet folds with a patriotic nod to ‘New India’. It struck me as a cop-out. Like much else in the current creative landscape, there is a tameness to Dhir’s film that feels cynical and facile.
