A 'dhamaka' has emerged in the fast-paced, ever-changing world of breaking news: a schoolteacher in Mumbai's Colaba has abducted 16 pre-nursery children and is threatening to kill them one by one if her demands are not satisfied. Not only among the parents of the children in danger and those closest to the kidnapper, but also among a bigger catchment – the general janta hooked to constant sensation and making-decisions-by-social-media-algorithms: who will die, and who will stay alive? We, too, as spectators, have questions after being bombarded with so much information in the first few minutes of the film. Why is 'A Thursday' so sluggish up to the intermission?

This type of film should keep us on edge and build tension as it progresses, but this Yami Gautam starrer wastes much too much of its own and our time before disclosing its secrets.
Not only that, but a lot of it is quite unlikely. How did Naina Jaiswal (Yami Gautam), a schoolteacher, get her hands on a pistol, for example? How did she figure out how to aim and shoot? We can assume that the deep, dark secrets that drive her to her allegedly heinous crimes stem from some form of deep-seated trauma long before they are revealed, but the dots are connected far too late.

Meanwhile, we have a TV newsroom run by a TRP-hungry CEO, and an anchor (Maya Sarao) who refers to someone diagnosed with 'depression and anxiety' as'mentally unstable,' and drops the word 'paagal' without blinking. Inspector Khan (Atul Kulkarni) and ACP Alvarez (Neha Dhupia, channelling Frances McDormand in 'Fargo,' heavily pregnant, plain-faced, business-like) are the tough cops on the case. And Dimple Kapadia, who gets to speak lines like "emotions may be an asset" as a firm, sympathetic female Prime Minister who wants to do her best in a difficult position.

The main problem is that we don't take any of it seriously, whether it's the sight of an increasingly agitated Naina striding up and down the playschool while brandishing a gun and alternately snarling and cooing at her hostages, or the sight of an increasingly agitated Naina striding up and down the playschool while brandishing a gun and alternately snarling and cooing at her hostages. She also manages to get the youngsters to watch cartoons, snooze, and eat cake while the troops assemble outside, all while singing to them.
The long-term effects of sexual abuse and the failure to punish perpetrators, which are at the heart of this film, are brought up right at the conclusion. Yes, the topic is worthwhile, but this absurd plot and its even more absurd execution are nothing more than a sequence of eye-rolls.