Thanks to the proliferation of OTT content, a lot of audiences are now well-versed with movies and TV series from around the world. A learned audience is mixed news for moviemakers. They’ll be able to appreciate smart elements in a movie but will just as easily identify plot pieces used in world cinema, and see right through unnecessary tropes. Check benefits and suffers from the above.
A big chunk of the movie feels like an inner dialogue in Chandra Sekhar Yeleti’s head: ‘Yes, this feels like a fabulous addition to the script; but wait, the audience will question how this is possible; let me add a couple of dialogues to make up for what should have been a couple of scenes of character-building.’ The Nithiin-starrer action thriller packs an eclectic mix of jailbreak, heist-flick narratives, and con-man showmanship. Chandra Sekhar Yeleti can be complimented for trying to mix entertainment and drama of the kind every kind of audience might indulge in. But, he doesn’t pull it off with elan.
In Check, Nithiin plays Aditya, a prodigy who discovers his chess prowess (capable of beating none less than Viswanathan Anand himself; nope, no cameo by Anand) in a jail. He is on a death sentence, convicted of being a terrorist who was part of a team that carries out a bomb blast. So, the movie tries to combine three incoherent pieces – his meteoric rise as a chess player from within the confines of a jail, his case in the court as he tries to prove his innocence, and his own plans for escape.
The movie has sparks of intelligent ideas all throughout. The Queen’s Gambit comes to mind when you watch Nithiin win one match after another, but chess aficionados rarely get to see any chess drama or even chess-related insights. The jail is a potpourri of the usual - a tragic teacher who teaches Nithiin, a kingpin for extra noise and ugliness, and some sadistic cops (barring one good man) who try to vent their frustrations on Aditya, bending one rule after the other.
Rakul Preet’s Shruti is a lawyer who fights Nithiin’s case. Unfortunately, while she gets enough screen-time, the writers haven't put in much thought behind the kind of person she has to be to go through this ordeal. A couple more scenes to establish her motivations were desirable (why is it that our movies focus more on the external styling of women actors than the kind of person she is supposed to be for the role?) Thankfully, we are spared a love story there, maintaining the client-lawyer dignity.
Watch: Trailer of Check
This is a movie that goes from not-much-happening to a-lot-happening phases alternately. There are cameos from two budding actors, Simran and Priya Prakash, who have not been offered any heft in the story. Because well, it is all about Aditya. Nithiin’s Aditya is an orphan who travels with a magician and later turns into a con-man, running white-collar crimes and taking pride in being a smart thief. His story arc has a lot of shades (from a lot of movies) and none that is predominant. Most of the movie is an effort to show that he is extraordinary, whether he is solving rubik’s cubes blindfolded, remembering the exact placement of things in his house, or mastering chess during one solitary confinement in jail. He doesn’t need training or coaching, he is just born with the gift (obviously the movie didn’t have the luxury of a TV series like The Queen’s Gambit, where you see the protagonist getting opportunities to learn, but learning fast over a reasonable period of time).
The movie borrows from heist flicks like Inside Man. But a highly random and improbable series of happenings and hazy timelines make you see through the twists from a mile. Most importantly, Nithiin looks jaded from a purely acting perspective, almost placid and bored with all that is happening with his character. If it is all about him, we might as well have seen a little more charisma, chutzpah, or at least a few idiosyncrasies. There is none, blame the story-writers or the fans?
Check is a movie that benefits from its director’s ambition to make something spellbinding, but suffers from the lack of enough investment into those ambitions. Con-man movies make for good subject material. But like a magic trick (like we learn in Prestige), the audience should be made to believe and then be surprised with the reveals. Check has many a colourful character, but none whose story arcs matter in the end (like the bad season finale of Game of Thrones). A good example is a pair of Nithiin admirers in the jail, who constantly hint at jailbreak only to meet an ill-baked end with zero sentimental value.
Another example is Rakul’s Shruti digging for NIA-related details (that’s tough isn’t it?) from her friends to finally be convinced of Aditya’s version of his story, a major plot-point. But it comes too late and without any foundational basis for her motivations whatsoever. And that doesn’t matter either – just a smokescreen for other events. Aditya winning a series of matches against grandmasters around the world and never ever losing also feels too contrived, because how much can you really peg on his abnormal IQ?
To summarise, I would say Check is entertaining enough for someone who has popculture cognizance. It has some really good ideas, and had characters which had potential. But, unnecessary additions (like Ram Sampath’s sadistic jailor, Trigger, the jail goon who harasses Nithiin and participates in a couple of unnecessary fight-sequences) at every point show that the story-writers and the director were like chefs who, for lack of confidence in their recipe, decide to add all kinds of spices hoping for a delicious output. The final product is edible but not the Masterchef-recipe we are made to believe it is. But, then it is a con-man movie. We won’t get what we truly want, I guess.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.