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It needs gust to defy the set norms in any field. Debutant director Kabir Kaushik is one such man who in his very first film has challenged the bigwigs of Bollywood. Could you ever imagine Arshad Warsi playing a tough cop after his stupendous success as Circuit in 'Munnabhai MBBS' and Vicky in 'Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya'. The actor has been tagged as a comedy prince, but with the help of Kabir, you see his true shades of an actor. Warsi shows that it's not the actor that fails and gets trapped in a perticular image, but the directors and the storywriters make him or her hide in a particular shell of image. 'Sehar' is a path breaker in many forms.

It presents an era on screen where no one has dared to go till date. It dwells into a nexus that has remained unexplored even after the coming of the Ram Gopal Verma age. It is shot in a very modest budget and yet it has all the qualities of a perfect film. Enters a new director with some new thoughts of filmmaking, who neither believes in the camp system nor does he have any backing from any big banner. Kudos to director Kabir Kaushik for all this, and much more than his first film 'Sehar' promises to bring in future. 'Sehar' is the first take on on the underworld of Northern India, a territory where even the mightiest dare not venture. We have seen films made on real life dons like Dawood Ibrahim ('D' and 'Company'), Haji Mastan ('Deewar'), Varadrajan Mudliyar ('Velukan' and 'Dayawaan') and even Satokhben Jadeja ('Godmother') but about the dons of the politically active states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. 'Sehar' is based on the life of first don of North, Shri Prakash Shukla and the then SP Arun Kumar (now DIG of CBI).

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'Sehar', means morning in Urdu; it presents a canvass for the battle between the good and the bad. Newly appointed SP Ajay Kumar of Lucknow (Arshad Warsi) is disturbed by the sudden increase of crime in the state capital. He is shocked to learn that university students are falling a prey to the growing menace of Mafia and indulging in crime for no reason or rhyme. The plot thickens when he learns that the root of the cause lies not in Lucknow but in the Far East district of the state, Gorakhpur. This is the town where railway tenders worth millions of rupees are given every year. Bidding mafia don Gajraj (Sushant) develops keen interest in whatever happens in the state. He wants to enter into railway tenders business too. He has already found a way to invest his money earned from ransom and killings in the real state. Ajay Kumar wants to finish the mafia as fast as he can irrespective of the path he has to follow in this respect. Gajraj has a political clout and it comes in Ajay's way, whenever the latter is about to nab Gajraj. Things take a dramatic turn when a close friend of the Chief Minister is killed and the Chief Minister gives go ahead to Ajay Kumar's plans. On the sidelines of this high tension drama moves the love story of Ajay Kumar and his girlfriend (Mahima Chaudhary), but in a very subtle way. Insertions of some emotions in the form of Ajay Kumar's mother (Suhasini Mulay) work wonders for the story narration. The film ends with a message where a commoner is shown as the hero and hopes that a new morning (dawn) will bring light in the dens of criminalization of the society. Everyone will stand up against the criminals.

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To start as a filmmaker, in 'Sehar' Kabir Kaushik has proven his point. He has come up with a product that is at par with any film made by veterans like Ram Gopal Verma and others. The realistic approach adopted by Kabir Kaushik adds to the flavor. The film is extensively shot in and around Uttar Pradesh and shows some of the rare technique of shottaking. Kabir has handled most of the departments of 'Sehar' on his own. At least four camerapersons were changed during the film's shoot. Besides conceiving the film on his own, he has been forced to take care of the marketing. As a director, Kabir Kaushik emerges as winner. To present an actor like Arshad Warsi in such a different role was a great challenge for him and he has taken this challenge head on. Scenes where Arshad confronts with his seniors, where he consoles his mother and where he meets students in the classroom, are brilliantly written and filmed. The film does tend to lose its grip whenever it wants to move ahead with the help of narration. But to imbibe a long story in 13 reels has these kinds of lacunae. It would have been better if Kabir had focused on some main events instead of trying to imbibe so many incidents in a movie. The film is heavy in nature, but it does jolt you and remains with you even when you come out of the theatre.

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Arshad Warsi is the clear beneficiary of the movie. From here he can move on to the next level. He has proved with 'Sehar' that he can carry on a film on his own, provided he gets a director like Kabir Kaushik again. All the supporting actors have performed very well, though they are not established names so far. However, Naved Aslam (playing the second in command of STF) and Rajendra Sethi (playing the builder) have a long way to go. A surprise item of the film is Pankaj Kapur playing electronic surveillance expert. Yes, it was Uttar Pradesh police that introduced this system in the country, and not the Mumbai police, as assumed by many. 'Sehar' also has some very good and melodious music by debutant Daniel George. 'Sham ho ya Sehar ho' sung by Adnan Sami is already a hit, and will attract more listeners after the film's release today. 'Sehar' has seen very good opening across the country. With the word of mouth publicity, it will certainly prove to be 'Page 3' of this second half of the year.