Why Cheat India
Year: 2019
Director: Soumik Sen
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Snighadeep Chatterjee

After having seemingly exhausted his quota of gangsters and scamsters, Emraan Hashmi found yet another ‘Cheat’ ‘Criminal’ character to play in his maiden home production.

What's the plot?

In Why Cheat India (an odd misaligned title thanks to the last-minute Censor intervention!), Hashmi plays a man making his moola from the cracks in the Indian exam system. He preys on the poor, hardworking ‘achievers’ who have cracked the code of topping entrance exams. Making these toppers his tools, he places them as proxies for the students who know that they themselves won’t be able to pass the exam, but who (and whose parents!) are desperate and moneyed enough to pay for these ‘switches’. Medical, Engineering, Banking, MBA- you name the entrance test and the man has got your ‘seat’ covered!

Verdict

With plenty of real-life incident-based scenes about pressured students, ambitious parents, fraudulent ‘coaching classes’, corrupt politicians and the works, Why Cheat India makes a promising start. There is a subtext of how flawed the rote-styled Indian education system is and how it is being flagrantly manipulated. Unfortunately, the plot becomes too convoluted and unconvincing as the film progresses. There is a futile effort to make the audience sympathize with Hashmi’s character as a misunderstood crook.

With years of practice, Hashmi carries his grey role nicely. Snighadeep Chatterjee as the ‘proxy’ student and Shreya Dhanwanthary as his elder sister make their mark.

Why Cheat India had the potential to become an engaging hard-hitting realistic film, but it just ends up as an average entertainer thanks to its shoddy story-line and shaky direction.

Rating

2 stars