HIT: The First Case
- Director
- Sailesh Kolanu
- Studio
- T-Series FilmsDil Raju Production
- Release Date
- 14 July 2022
- Running Time
- 133 min
- Language
- Hindi
- Country
- India
- Budget
- ₹30.00 Cr
- Box Office
- ₹11.78 Cr
Review
Rajkummar Rao carries this dark procedural with a quiet intensity that mirrors a man fractured by his own ghosts, and there's genuine unease in watching him navigate a case that bleeds into his personal life. Dr. Sailesh Colaco's direction attempts to weave psychological complexity into what could've been a straightforward crime thriller—the interplay between investigation and obsession, between detective and suspect, creates moments of real tension. Yet the film struggles to balance its ambitions; the narrative meanders through too many red herrings and suspect pivots, leaving viewers more confused than compelled. The supporting cast does what it can, but the material doesn't always give them room to breathe as full characters rather than plot devices.
What haunts me most about this film isn't the mystery itself, but what it reveals about human fragility—how trauma compounds, how proximity to violence warps judgment, how the hunter can become the hunted. Rao's performance captures this deterioration beautifully in quieter moments, his eyes betraying the detective's unraveling faith in justice. However, the second half loses momentum as revelations feel more constructed than earned, and the "shocking truth" about shared pasts and obsession, while thematically resonant, arrives with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. The film deserved to trust its audience's intelligence more, to let dread build organically rather than through exposition dumps.
Rating: 6/10
Storyline
Vicky, a trauma-haunted detective with the Homicide Intervention Team, finds himself at the center of a complex murder case when a young woman named Preeti vanishes after her car breaks down on a highway. As he digs deeper into the disappearance, the investigation becomes uncomfortably personal when his colleague and love interest, Neha, also goes missing, casting doubt on his own involvement in the crimes.
The forensic evidence paints a murky picture, with DNA samples and witness testimonies implicating multiple suspects ranging from Preeti's adoptive father to the orphanage administrator. Toll booth footage and eyewitness accounts eventually point toward a truck driver and a mechanic named Fahad, pushing the investigation in new directions and forcing Vicky to chase down increasingly dangerous leads.
The case spirals into darker territory when a violent pursuit results in a death, leading investigators to an unexpected hideout where shocking revelations emerge about the connections between the victim and the perpetrator. What unfolds is a twisted tale of obsession rooted in a shared past, ultimately exposing how old wounds and psychological trauma can metastasize into tragedy.