‘9 Hours’ is a Telugu crime thriller. Released on OTT platform on June 2, 2022, the thriller is based on a gripping story and supported by an ensemble cast. Unfortunately, absence of sharper scissors spoils the slow.
The 9 Hours web series was released on Disney+ Hotstar. Directed by Niranjan Kaushik and Jacob Verghese, the movie is adapted from Telugu novel Thommidhi Gantalu (9 hours in English) penned by Malladi Venkata Krishnamurthy.
The web series starring Vinod Kumar, Tarakratna, Madhu Shalini, Preeti Asrani and Ravi Varma, gets lost in a never-ending drama instead of becoming an exciting crime thriller.
Plot of 9 Hours
Set in the mid 1980s, the story revolves around three prison inmates who have been commissioned for bank robbery. They have to rob three banks within 9 hours and return before their next roll call. Sounds like 80’s ‘Money Heist’, right?
Filmmaker Krish Jagarlamudi, who has written the script, deserves kudos for presenting Telugu literature on silver screen time and again.
The series has varied layers of complex characters with a different bending of moral compass, to build up the tension.
Some prisoners don’t feel any compunction if they have to kill the hostages whereas some want to live a better life if they get a chance. The hostages in different age brackets are at different angles of moral compass.
Bank robbery by inmates is not a new movie plot but the challenge for the prisoners in 9 Hours is they must be back by the evening before the regular roll call.
It is like any other business day for the bank. The three inmates break into the bank and take all employees and visitors hostage.
The series contains 9 episodes, covering the details from the prisoners’ escape from the jail to their return to the cells and everything in between. As the story progresses, the audiences get to know why the inmates were forced to commit the crime.
With every hour ticking, backstories of some bank employees and visitors come tumbling out. For example, Suguna is a prostitute and the girlfriend of one of the robbers, Girija is a bank employee who is a widow and sexually harassed by her colleague, Chandra Shekhar is a movie star and the list goes on.
In the meantime, Circle Inspector Pratap is in the same locality to arrest a video shop owner and seize his porn videos. As soon as he gets to know that the bank is under siege, he springs into action. From here, the story takes an interesting turn and the chase starts to catch the robbers.
How Successful Is ‘9 Hours’ As a Crime Thriller?
A tightly woven story with interesting twists and turns in each episode gets the audiences hooked to their seats. However, 9 Hours lacks the edgy elements to thrill you at every turn of the event.
At times, it feels that the web series is not only set in the 80s but was also made during the same era due to its cliché dialogues and hodgepodge narratives.
9 Hours’ shooting was done in two locations – the bank and the central jail. The shots cut between two locations give us glimpses of what is happening simultaneously. Unfortunately, the series is more like an ordinary Telugu series, falling far behind what could have been an intriguing crime thriller.
At some places, the dialogues are poorly written and also not related to the main plot. The series is loaded with the kind of elements found in only social drama and as a result, ends up being a melodrama. For example, a rape and a romantic scene disrupt the flow of a crime plot.
The unnecessary inputs only sprinkle spices and add no value. Wayward things cram the plot and deviate attention from the main theme.
Wrapping Up The 9 Hours movie is produced by First Frame Entertainment, starring an ensemble of some well-known names. The casting is perfect for the series and all of them have delivered powerful performances. The web series has been dubbed in different languages including Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam.
