Rahul Desai
An intense tussle between two opposing forces defines Apoorv Singh Karki’s courtroom drama, Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai. The film is ‘inspired by’ the high-profile conviction of Asaram Bapu, the self-styled godman who was charged and ultimately imprisoned for raping a minor at his ashram in 2013
Bajpayee’s emphatic performance seems to be in a perpetual battle with the mediocrity of filmmaking. Make no mistake, the great actor is the underdog here – up against the famously flimsy tropes of commercial courtroom storytelling.
It’s not an unfamiliar war; artists like Bajpayee are so compelling that they are often required to punch down and compete with such stories rather than elevate them. The result is a head-on contest: He is all fact and fury, while the manipulative treatment of the film tries its best to defeat him.
I reached a point where the mere prospect of any physical or visual drama outside the courtroom started to make me nervous. The heritage-home-styled backdrop of Mehrangarh Fort on Solanki’s humble Jodhpur terrace – a space where he ponders in private – is another example of lazy staging.
Eventually, I’d say he defeats the film, subduing its shallow arguments and transcending its noise. He becomes the difference between a sinking ship and a shipwreck enclosure in a history museum. The former is a tragedy; the latter is a watchable story. The title is fitting after all: Sometimes, one man is really all it takes.