A Thursday

Naina Jaiswal is a kindergarten teacher in Mumbai. On an ordinary Thursday morning she takes the sixteen children in her class hostage and announces her demands. They seem meaningless at first: a sum of money, the dismissal of a police officer, the right to speak on live television. The police surround the building, the media arrive, and the case takes over the country. As the hours pass, why she is doing it emerges, and the matter becomes something other than a hostage crisis. Behzad Khambata's film takes place almost entirely in one building. The narrative draws its tension not from the children but from Naina's demands opening one by one. What the film takes on is how sexual assault cases work in India and what the complainant goes through in that process. Yami Gautam plays Naina, Atul Kulkarni the officer running the negotiation, and Neha Dhupia the commissioner. Who it's for: Viewers who like Indian thrillers, single-location structures, and narratives tied to a social issue. Who it's not for: The scenes of children being held hostage are disturbing. The political resolution is also too easy and not realistic.