Synopsis: Gautam seems unbothered, while his younger brother Raman is really worried when Jhumpa’s child (an underprivileged woman) is kidnapped. The subsequent events make it more difficult for them to find the child. Will the brothers put their lives at stake for the sake of this mission? 

Review: 

If someone talks about ‘art’ films or the ones that are screened in film festivals, what would be your genuine reaction? You would either consider them a film fanatic or a person who only watches ‘boring’ films! In fact, a lot of people would think the same, that art films are boring. So, nobody is alone here! But, Karan Tejpal’s recent heart-stopper, Stolen, flips the coin and introduces a whole new world. It is exciting, compelling and will go down as one of the best suspense thrillers in the history books. 

Without wasting any time, the film introduces the trio—Jhumpa, Raman and Gautam—and kickstarts the plot point right away—Jhumpa’s child is kidnapped and the two brothers are involved. 

We see a lot of things going around within the first few minutes of the film. Raman is first accused of kidnapping the child, but soon he’s found that he isn’t guilty. Jhumpa runs everywhere to find her missing child only to get disappointed. Gautam tries to calm things down, but he also foresees how the situation might end in a mess. Additionally, there are two men in Khaki who often indulge in provocative interrogation. 

In the meantime, we also learn about the character’s nature. Jhumpa seems like a bold woman who would risk everything to get back her child. Though Raman looks posh, he’s empathetic and really worried about Jhumpa’s loss. Meanwhile, Gautam is quite the opposite to his younger brother as he isn’t affected by this situation and often irritated by Raman’s decisions — Gautam is more or less a self centered person, but we see a remarkable change in him later in the film. 

The most interesting part is whatever things we’ve discussed so far, they all happen at one specific location. We would just wonder how it is possible to stage all of them in such a tight space, that too which is entirely dark. There isn’t much background score, which is actually nice to see as it makes the scene more natural—it feels as though everything happens right in front of our eyes! We can’t point fingers at any department, as they’ve all worked flawlessly! Also, everybody performs at their highest level. 

Later, the film takes us to a place beyond imagination, moving far beyond the tranquil night shot at the railway station. The decisions of the characters raise tension, complicate matters and finally lead to chaos. Moreover, the misinformation that’s spread in no time leads to a bloodbath. 

There’s really no room for us to think about anything else, as we feel eternally connected to the film. We fail to find a conclusive answer to the chaos that we witness; we try our best to connect the dots to understand everything, but it only ends in vain. 

But once we understand what’s beneath the surface, it hits us like a sharp, unexpected slap—the film tackles a neglected societal issue with fearless honesty, exposing a longstanding class divide that many choose to ignore. 

The final verdict?

To put it simply, the makers of the film have packed some great ideas into a thriller format that checks all the boxes for entertainment. The runtime of Stolen might be short, but it is here to stay with us for a very long time. It’s a piece of work that would genuinely change our perception of ‘art’ films.