The hero of Samrat & Co, called STD (Samrat Tilakdhari), is played by the talented Rajeev Khandelwal. This is a desi version of Sherlock Holmes, and playing the role of Watson is Gopal Datt who is called Chakradher Pandey or CD.
A young lady, Dimpy Singh (Madalsa Sharma) comes to Samrat asking for help. There have been some occurrences at her bungalow in Shimla that defy all explanations. Samrat hears here out, and upon finding the case challenging enough, accepts it. On reaching Shimla, Samrat is introduced to the other members including the head of the family (Girish Karnad). No sooner have Samrat and CD settled down, there is a death in the family that only complicates matters.
There is enough meat in the story. However, lack of proper execution mars the film. There are too many characters, as a result of which the audience will find it hard to remain focused throughout the duration of the film. The characters are not well-developed and some of them appear fleetingly in the film. It would have done Samrat & Co a whole lot of good had the director spent some time in developing the different characters. Also, the romantic angle between Samrat and Dimpy is unwarranted for, and serves no other purpose but to divert the viewer’s attention from the main plot.
Rajeev Khandelwal’s dialogue delivery in the film is somewhat amiss as he speaks at a fast pace, which the audience will find it hard to keep up with. Had he delivered his dialogues at a slower pace, it would have been easier to understand. Apart from this he plays his role diligently. Gopal Datt has played Rajeev Khandelwal’s sidekick in the film quite efficiently. Veteran actor Girish Karnad has given a good performance too. However, the rest of the cast is mediocre. One wishes that the other actors delivered a crisper performance.
All in all, Samrat & Co doesn’t manage to grip the viewer as much as one would have liked it to. Having said that, it is not a bad effort. Taking into account all the flaws, the film does reasonably well. However, many whodunit fans will feel that there were areas where the film could have done much better.
What do you think?