‘Hisaab Barabar’ review: The arithmetic doesn’t add up

Railway ticket checker Radhemohan is meticulous down to the last paisa. An honest worker and a caring single father, Radhemohan (R Madhavan) is also a whiz at numbers, able to make complicated computations within seconds.

Every figure in a bill must tally for him. But when he starts looking closely at his bank statements, he realises that something is not quite right.

The missing amount is small, but what if this is the case with other customers too? Radhemohan takes on the bank’s dissolute head Mehta (Neil Nitin Mukesh) who is siphoning away crores with the help of his patron Dalal (Manu Rishi Chadha).

Ashwni Dhir’s Hindi-language Hisaab Barabar is out on ZEE5. However, in a film with a doughty hero, a smart money-making racket and a ludicrous villain, the figures do not quite add up.

The screenplay, by Dhir and Purva Naresh, is based on a story by Ritesh Shastri. Radhemohan’s travails are all too familiar, while a sub-plot revolving around his entanglement with police inspector Poonam (Kriti Kulhari) is decidedly spark free.

Mehta is too silly to be taken seriously, with Neil Nitin Mukesh hamming away while living high on the hog. The 111-minute film squanders a decent idea – although the scam is believable, not a great deal that…

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