Traffic (2016 film)

Traffic is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language road thriller film directed by Rajesh Pillai. It is a remake of the 2011 Malayalam film of same name. Originally written by brothers Bobby and Sanjay, the film's screenplay has been adapted into Hindi by Suresh Nair, while the dialogues were written by Piyush Mishra.

The cinematography is handled by Santhosh Thundiyil and Anishlal R S, the music is composed by Mithoon. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Sheirgill, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Divya Dutta, Amol Parashar, Jishnu Raghavan and Richa Panai.

The film was released on 6 May 2016 to positive reviews. Director Rajesh Pillai and actor Jishnu Raghavan died prior to the release of the film.

Plot
Actor Dev Kapoor awaits the release of his upcoming film. Traffic constable Ramdas Godbole resumes his duty after having been suspended for taking a bribe in order to help his sister. Rehan Ali, a trainee journalist, gets ready for the first day of his job with an interview with Dev Kapoor.

At a crowded traffic junction in Mumbai, Rehan and his friend Rajeev collide with another vehicle, fatally injuring Rehan. In another car at the junction is cardiologist Dr. Abel Fernandes and his friend, Hemaan.

Rehan is rushed to the hospital and is declared brain dead, being kept alive on a ventillator. Meanwhile in Pune, Dev Kapoor's daughter Ria's heart condition worsens and she is in urgent need of a heart. Rehan's heart is still functioning and is offered to Ria for transplantation. However, Rehan's parents refuse but on the insistence of Rajeev and Rehan's girlfriend, Aditi who tell them that it is too save a life. they reluctantly agree. Despite the heart being available, they are faced with the problem of transporting the heart from Mumbai to Pune as no chartered flights or helicopters are available as a result of the poor weather conditions and time concerns, therefore the heart would have to be transported by road.

City Police Commissioner Gurbir Singh is asked to carry out the mission but refuses due to the high risk and complexity involved. He eventually agrees to take responsibility of the mission on the persistence of Dr. Simon D'Souza. No officer is willing to drive the vehicle until Godbole, wanting to regain the respect he had lost because the scandal, volunteers to carry out the mission. Accompanying him on the mission is Dr. Abel and Rajeev.

The mission goes smoothly for sometime before Abel holds Rajeev at knifepoint and threatens Godbole that he would kill Rajeev if he didn't comply, forcing Godbole to deviate from the highway into a forest. Rajeev retaliates causing a fight. Abel phones his sister and confesses that he had run his wife over with his car after discovering that she was cheating on him with his best friend, Hemaan and that she may have died, so he wishes to save himself from the clutches of the police. Dev Kapoor phones him and persuades him that he can save him but Abel isn't convinced. Out of frustration, Dev's wife Maya explains the mental traumatic condition she has endured as a result of her daughter's heart condition and tells him that no problem can be bigger than this one. A convinced Abel advises Godbole and Rajeev to leave without him, however Godbole chooses to have Abel with him despite having been urged by Gurbir to have him arrested.

They divert into a road 8 km ahead of the scheduled route, making up for the time lost in the forest. Ria's condition, however deteriorates causing Godbole to take an alternative route by driving into a communally sensitive area named Bilal Colony, where police are restricted from entering because of its strong minority. Dev phones corporator Aslam Bhai who volunteers to clear the roads for the vehicle to pass through. Rajeev who knows the area quite well exits the car to ensure that the roads are clear. Dr. Abel also leaves the car to push two cars out of the way which are blocking the route. Godbole drives at a high speed, reaching the hospital in time, covering the mission in almost two hours.

Abel learns from his sister that his wife is alive and has no complaints against him regarding the incident, freeing him. Rehan's parents invite Aditi to their home as a symbol of acceptance. Ria opens her eyes, bringing joy to her family. Gurbir feels satisfied and phones Dr. Simon Souza to thank him. On the way back home, Godbole witnesses a group of men arguing on the side of the road and signals them to stop, ending the film on a happy note.

Cast

 * Manoj Bajpayee as Ramdas Godbole, a head constable in the Mumbai Traffic Police
 * Jimmy Sheirgill as Gurbir Singh IPS, Joint Commissioner (Traffic), Mumbai Police
 * Prosenjit Chatterjee as Dev Kapoor, Maya's husband and Ria's father
 * Parambrata Chatterjee as Dr. Abel Fernandes, a reputed cardiac surgeon
 * Jishnu Raghavan as Hemaan, Abel's friend who has an affair with his wife Shwetha
 * Vishal Singh as Rehan Ali, a trainee journalist and Aditi's boyfriend
 * Sachin Khedekar as Ahmed Ali, Rehan's father
 * Kitu Gidwani as Rehan's mother
 * Amol Parashar as Rajeev, Rehan's friend
 * Sija Rose as Rehan's friend and Rajeev's girlfriend
 * Kaveri Kalyani as Maria Fernandes, Abel's sister
 * Divya Dutta as Maya Kapoor, Dev Kapoor's wife
 * Ulka Gupta as Ria Kapoor, Dev Kapoor's daughter
 * Nikita Thukral as Aditi, Rehan's girlfriend
 * Richa Panai as Shwetha Fernandes, Abel's wife
 * Baby Annie as Godbole's Daughter
 * Janeshwar Shukla as Dr. A. Dastur
 * Rajesh Khattar as Dr. Jagdish Khattar
 * Raj Arjun as Aslam Bhai
 * Vikram Gokhale as Dr. Simon D'Souza

Production
Endemol India that has produced several local television shows ventured into feature films, after they acquired the remake rights for the Malayalam film Traffic. Rajesh Pillai who directed the film in Malayalam was retained as director too. Suresh Nair did the Hindi adaptation of the script of Traffic, stating "slight enhancements have been made in the feel and action content, to ensure commercial viability. But the script still remains the brilliant script that the original is".

Manoj Bajpai was signed to play the male lead in April 2013.

Two Bengali actors, Parambrata Chatterjee and Prosenjit Chatterjee were also signed in. The director confirmed that Manoj Bajpai would play the role of a constable, Parambrata Chatterjee would play a doctor and Prosenjit Chatterjee would play a superstar.

Divya Dutta signed the film in August, playing Lena's part from the original.

Amol Parashar, a popular face through ad films, is said to play Asif Ali's character and Malayali actor, Jishnu is said to be playing the role played by Krishna in the original version.

Vishal Singh signed in August and Kitu Gidwani has been given the role of Vishal Singh's mother.

Rajesh Pillai confirmed that Nikita Thukral was for a role, the role played by Sandhya in Malayalam and which was offered to Vishakha first. Richa Panai was in September 2013 and she will be paired with Parambrata in the film. In November 2013, it was reported that Malayali actress Kaveri would reprise the role portrayed by Roma Asrani but that she will portray a mature and introvert personality as opposed to a bubbly Miriam from the original.

Mithoon was signed as the music composer and had already recorded three songs for the film by May 2013.

Pillai stated that the film would be entirely shot on the Mumbai Pune Expressway and Hyderabad. In late August, the first schedule had been completed at Hyderabad. The final schedule started on 2 September at Mumbai.

Release
The movie was released, 2 months after the death of its director Rajesh Pillai

Critical reception
Meena Iyer of The Times of India gave it 4 stars out of 5, describing film as a well-intentioned movie with fine performances from its ensemble cast. Anna MM Vetticad of Firstpost quoted that it is Needless messaging which spoils this Manoj Bajpayee-starrer. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave it 2 stars out of 5, and quoted that Crispness and the sense of urgency is missing in movie. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave it 4 stars out of 5, describing the film as a fitting swan song: an unmissable film.

Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times gave it 4 stars out of 5, titled that A Tight script, stellar performances make it a must-watch. Prarthna Sarkar of International Business Times gave it 3 stars out of 5, describing it as a must watch. Namarta Joshi of The Hindu quoted "'Traffic' wears thin, feels rushed. There is neither much of an emotional tug nor an edge-of-the-seat urgency that the film promised to deliver." Sukanya Verma from Rediff.com gave it 2 stars out of 5, said movie is muddled and lacklustre in its set-up. Bollywood Hungama gave it 2 stars out of 5. Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in said that the remake of the Malayalam hit loses the essence of the original and movie titled Traffic goes nowhere.

Box office
According to Box Office India, the movie collected inr 110000000 against a budget of inr 90000000. As the movie did not cross the breakeven point, it is considered as a box-office failure.

Music
Music for Traffic was composed by Mithoon and Shailendra Barve, while the lyrics were written by Turaz, Mithoon, Jitendra Joshi & Sayeed Quadri.