A still from Trapped
Residents living in high-rise apartments, especially in cities such as Gurgaon and Indirapuram, can identify with this film for sure. Called Trapped, the survival thriller, which had a special screening ahead of its release this past Wednesday in INOX, Nehru Place, centres on one man’s fight for survival. He is not on a deserted island (Cast Away) or an isolated canyon (127 Hours) or an ocean (Life of Pi) but in a new Mumbai apartment where people are yet to move in, right in the middle of a crowded street.
The film succeeds because it has an it-can-happen-to you message. Screenwriter Amit Joshi got the idea when he got auto-locked inside his Goregaon flat in Mumbai for half an hour. Dysfunctional locks, forgotten keys, mobiles with discharged batteries, water cuts and electrical outages — haven't we all been there? Not just that, the film also manages to bring to the fore subconscious worries — how about being home alone in the company of a sinister lizard, or two?
Played by acclaimed actor Rajkummar Rao, Shaurya, the character, must pluck up the "courage" to stay alive after he accidentally locks himself up in his new rented apartment in a desolate high-rise for almost a week.
To make things worse, his phone battery dies and since the building is devoid of residents, electricity and water or food supply, Shaurya must take extreme measures to survive this unexpected nightmare. To replicate this feeling of being imprisoned and trapped, INOX and the producers ran the Vikramaditya Motwane-directed 103 minute film without an interval.
Denial turns into panic as the Sun sets and a sense of claustrophobia creeps in making you hold your breath. You feel imprisoned in that flat along with the protagonist, who does whatever it takes to survive, even facing his fear of rats. He also tries using everyday household items — such as a stainless steel pan — to plot his escape. Hunger can turn one into a beast, and it often makes your squirm in your seat with its appalling proceedings. At the end of the film, you do feel relieved, valuing your freedom you take so much for granted.
"While this film will keep everyone on the edge of their seats, it will especially appeal to residents who stay in new high-rise apartments with not netoo many neighbours," says Alok Tandon, CEO, INOX Leisure Limited.
It also brings alive the other side of the urban jungle — the invisible lives tucked away in unauthorised, unoccupied buildings, of being undetectable in massive crowds, of finding your voice drowned out, being utterly alone in the sea of humanity.
And oh, stay away from dubious property dealers — that's the other message in the movie.
