 "Costao Movie Review: Terrific performance by Nawazuddin Siddiqui")
Star cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Priya Bapat, Kishore, Hussain Dalal, and Mahika Sharma
Director: Sejal Shah
Based on a true story, the film is on a Goan customs officer Costao Fernandes (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who made history by catching a massive gold smuggling operation in the 1990s. He selflessly loved his job and his country. His passion for his job completely destroyed not only his life, but his family’s too when he accidently killed a politically-connected smuggler in self-defense. After long struggles and several trials in the court, he was proved not guilty. Through all these hardships his office colleagues supported him.
Costao Fernandes’ case was a landmark judgment. He was in no way a selfish husband, which many might think him to be. But he was definitely a selfless customs officer. He wasn’t an absent father but an awesome father, and that’s what his elder daughter felt because she was the only one who was a little grown-up and mature enough among his three kids who could understand the stress his father went through at work, and because of the uncertainties of his life and the safety of his family, his marriage too was getting affected. Can you imagine the trauma this little girl must have grown through to see his father being beaten up by a group of women.
No actor can match up with the craft of Nawazuddin Siddiqui . He is effortless and knows how to get into the skin of the character. His expressions are brilliant. There is nothing that is in excess in his acting or even the script. In fact, it’s just the right dose of emotion, thrill, humour and anger that is shown. I am sure cinematic liberties have been taken, but they are done with a lot of honesty and responsibility. It requires immense finesse to treat such an intense and serious subject with so much sensitivity.
While watching Costao, I recollected an interview where he once told me, “If you see Bollywood films, you will realise they are largely mandabuddhi (feeble-minded) films.” He mentioned that there is absolutely no talent required to be an actor in those kind of movies. Typical Bollywood films have five songs, half-an-hour of action scenes and half-an-hour of choreography, so there is no scope for actors to show their talent.” He believes that it is easy to become a star, but becoming a good actor requires dedication. And thankfully he never aspired to be a star, but a craftsman because to be a craftsman requires talent and dedication and not a machinery for promotion.
And not just Nawaz; the emotions shown by his wife, Maria Fernandes (Priya Bapat), in the film Costao are so real. Many women would relate to the character of Maria, a woman who single-handedly takes care of the children and has her own job too. The sadness and aloofness shown by Nawaz at the end of the movie and the way he narrates how his wife distanced away from him, makes you feel his grief. Based on a real story, the makers could have dramatized it like a typical Hindi movie, but the film says little about Costao’s personal grief, but yet we can feel it. Generally we see a man getting applauded and promoted for being a workaholic, but here life wasn’t fair to him. He was in fact, grounded for being a workaholic. The best thing about this movie is that there is nothing that is over-the top, all the shots are done in a very subtle manner.
The film shows how the life of Costao Fernandes (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is filled with small joys and empathy. Yet his love and honesty towards his job changes everything. This is one of those movies which I believe could have done brilliantly even on big screens, but it is great for those cinema loving audiences on the digital platform who believe that in good cinema all characters are important and that good cinema is here to stay.
Costao is a very rare film where every single actor has done a remarkable job including Kishore Kumar G as D’Mello, the corrupt politician and smuggler, Ravi Shankar Jaiswal as the informer and all other actors in the film. Some movies leave an impact and Costao is one such film. I watched it last night and yet I can’t get over it, such impressionable was the character of Costao Fernandes, the honest Goan custom officer who selflessly loved his job and his country.
Rating: 4 out of 5
WATCH the trailer of ZEE5’s Costao here:
Lachmi Deb Roy is the Entertainment Editor of Firstpost, Network18. She reviews films and series with a gender lens. She is a 'Rotten Tomatoes' certified critic. Her interviews are called 'Not Just Bollywood' because she takes a huge interest in world cinema. She has been the winner of the prestigious Laadli Media and Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity for two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021. OTT over theatrical releases is her preference unless and until it's a King Khan film. She takes interest in fashion, food and art reviews too.