HIT: The Third Case - Action Saga with a Banger Final Hour!

Ashwin Ram

Hit: The Third Case is the third instalment to the Hit franchise, following Vishwak Sen and Adivi Sesh, Nani stars as the lead hero in this part. Directed by Sailesh Kolanu.

Premise:

Nani is an aggressive cop who is brutal with the criminals. He goes behind a psycho-killer syndicate and how solves the case is the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction:

Nani’s character is introduced as an antagonist and we very well know he is not going to be the bad guy, thus the narrative at first tends to be weak. At least it is not a storytelling gimmick and the happening gets a valid justification in the forthcoming. Nothing refreshing in the romance portions too, in fact the love scenes of the first half seems to be irrelevant by being a hindrance to the proceedings. The writing in the initial hour is extremely basic, the presentation of the scenes could only manage to be on the surface level without any highs. Picks up pace when the story shifts to the North, opening up an unique plot with the whole idea of a cult involving psycho-killers. The flow gets better as time passes, leaving us involved at the interval point. Credits to the writers for placing the threat in the form of a network of criminals instead of going in the usual way. After the bumpy start to the latter, the entire final hour is one single episode taking place inside a bungalow. But the screenplay doesn’t get saturated as the mission is solidly packaged, it is hot and happening as well. Action saga is unleashed in a good setup with enough drama and the bloodbath presentation takes care of the rest. Has enough whistle-worthy theatre moments towards the end, Nani’s heroic presence alongside a couple of crowd pleasing cameos that lead to the fourth case.

Performances:

Nani owns his anger issues and does complete justice to the role. He goes beast in the action parts and performs stunts like never before, his body language makes the violence so believable. Initially it felt like a passing cloud kind of role for Srinidhi Shetty, she gains importance as the story flows and does her job neatly. Prateik Babbar as the face of evil perfectly fits for the psycho role who leads a pack.

Technicalities:

Passable songs, the one sung by Sid Sriram is better out of the lot. Background score is too techno and there were no silent spots for the intense situations to take the upper hand on its own. Cinematography is inconsistent till the halfway mark, things turnaround remarkably in the second half, an hour long finale happening in the same location looks stunning. Same with the visual effects, they look tacky initially and become significantly better in the progress. The overall runtime of the film could have been crisper, keeping it under 140 minutes, however the editor contributes with some slick cuts during the high-octane stretches that uplifts the stylish aspect. Superlative stunt choreography, the fight sequences are the backbone of the film, with immense importance and a unique flavour, the action is highly engaging.

Bottomline

Violence with a purpose. Though it opens in a generic way with the regular commercial tropes, the story picks up once the conflict is revealed. The second half is a treat for action genre lovers, and also has enough high points to keep us cheerful.

Rating - 3/ 5