Cast: Jimmy Shergill, Asha Negi, Sparsh Shrivastava, and Rajshri Deshpande

Director: Dnyanesh Zoting

Rating: **

Platform: Disney+ Hotstar

Through the lens of a hostage scenario, Dnyanesh Zoting's suspense film, 'Collar Bomb,' tackles misconceptions, stereotyping, and dishonesty.

The film tells the story of an officer who has to pay the price for one poor decision. As a result of being compelled to perform a series of crimes, his life is turned upside down. There's also a suicide bomber in the mix. With a lot of blend of various situations, the question arises is the tale, however, compelling enough? Not nearly, as it turns out. Despite having a great talent like Jimmy Sheirgill, the picture fails to impress the audience on several levels. The film's direction and screenplay are the biggest letdowns, but we'll get to that later.

The film's intriguing part begins when a young bomb-laden guy infiltrates a school gathering. Shoaib (Sparsh Srivastav) seems to be the town's newest kohl-eyed Islamist bomber. He selects out Manoj (Jimmy Sheirgill), who is at the occasion with his son Akshay (Naman Jain), and instructs him to complete a series of activities to prevent the bomb from detonating. Someone with a connection to Hesi is linked to the suicide bomber. As a result, the conflict appears to be personal.

Actually, the screenplay by Nikhil Nair sets forth the twists without waiting to analyze the flaws. In the 86-minute runtime, an unexpected enemy, a skeleton in a character's closet, and concerns about who we choose to identify as villains are all included. It looks like a mess which we, as an audience have to presume that what & why this might be going on.

No doubt, the concept is interesting, but the way it is displayed is just created a big question in the public's mind. So we can say, the plot is fascinating in theory, but it is poorly executed in practice. It is hazy right from the start, and it doesn't get much better as it goes on. It all comes to a sad conclusion. The film, directed by Dnyanesh Zoting and written by Nikhil Nair, is too complex and at times devoid of sense. While it succeeds in piquing your interest, the manner in which the solutions are displayed on screen might be grating at times.

When it comes to acting, none of the performers is utilized competently. We're all aware of Jimmy Sheirgill's acting prowess. And he doesn't fall short in that regard. He might have been a winner if his character had been written adequately and had better lines. As ASI Sumitra, Asha Negi performs admirably. Sparsh Shrivastav, who stars in Netflix's Jamtara, is underused. In Collar Bomb, the actor accomplishes almost nothing. He portrays a suicide bomber, who is likely the film's major character, although his performance is hindered by bad directing. The lack of history for his character makes it difficult for the viewer to connect with him.

With a lot of unsolved questions, the film just disappoints us which could have been a superhit plot is portrayed clearly. The film shows that how desperately the director just wants to wrap up due to which he left various things unclear. In fact, there are some illogical things also like there are just 59 minutes left in a bomb blast but the bomber gives 1 hour to Hesi to complete the tasks. How it can be possible? Not only this but when you'll find out the main culprit then you'll surely want logic that how one person can handle two things exactly in front of everyone?

Overall, Collar Bomb, directed by Dnyanesh Zoting, is a lackluster thriller that loses logic and substance. Undoubtedly, the premise is fascinating, but it fails to impress owing to a lack of direction and writing. Perhaps it would have been obvious if it had been made as a web series.