Setters looks into the insidious exam-setting scam in the capital cities of Northern India. But unlike the Emraan Hashmi-starrer Why Cheat India – which preferred to go the slithery anti-hero way – this one settles for a balanced approach, pitting cop against criminal while staying from doldrums of social commentary.It begins with an elaborate heist sequence on the streets of Mumbai. Apurva (Talpade) is a UP-born scamster, who leaks public sector exam papers.
He has a litany of recruits under his thumb: working in teams. They break into closely-watched transport vehicles, copy questionnaires, sneak out unscathed and scoot off on motorbikes to deliver the answer scripts in hand. This is Swiggy for the middle-class soul, a pricey gift card to white-collar eminence.
Apurva, works for Bhaiyaji (Pavan Malhotra), and is called back to Varanasi to lead a proxy racket for his boss. Closing in on their gang is honest copper Aditya (Shivdasani). More oddballs join the chase, on both sides, and Apurva eventually splits with Bhaiyaji. This creates a total of three final teams – police, gangster and an Indie defector – as they hustle, scam and manipulate their way to the finish.
A decent amount of research has gone into the swindling scenes. A chicken farmer, played by Vijay Raaz, doubles as a finger-print forger. We check in with a portly tech-supplier called Bluetooth Baba, who gimmicks pendants and rings with audio-visual connectivity. There’s also ol’ school palm-greasing at every step. Yet, the film never manages to thrill or engage, as dull performances further slow down a poorly-paced script. Talpade, as a Maharastrian, tries hard to work the Banarasi accent (he routinely ends sentences with an emphatic ‘Samjhe..’), while Shivdasani – making a comeback to Hindi films after three years – remains unchanged in his one-note South Bombay-ness.
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As a crime comedy set in the North, there’s an obvious Anurag Kashyap hangover plaguing this film: the second-half chase scene is similar to Dev D’s Paharganj, and the same hotel where Dev used to lodged is employed in another scene. Several ‘Kashyap’ actors – Jameel Khan, Pankaj Jha, Pavan Malhotra, Zeishan Quadri, Anil Charanjeet – appear in the film.
The ending draws a chuckle, exposing the perviousness of Indian systems, which is not limited to test centres alone. Not that this film cares to comment, but perhaps we really need to examine the examiners. And watch the watchmen.