Five years of Trapped: This claustrophobic thriller starring Rajkummar Rao leaves you numb

We are currently living in a time period where we have adapted to WFH culture more quickly than all of us had anticipated when the pandemic turned our life topsy-turvy a couple of years ago. However, there are many who have started complaining about this working mode as they find it completely exhausting, despite the fact that they get to spend enough time with their dear ones and indulge in things which offer them pleasure. 

Now, imagine getting locked in your home accidentally for a few days without power and access to a phone; the sheer imagination is sure to leave you numb. If this gives you chills, think about what Shaurya, the protagonist of Vikramaditya Motwane's Trapped, underwent after he negligently locked himself on the 35th floor in a deserted high-rise.

Shaurya (Rajkummar Rao), who works in a Mumbai-based call center, falls in love with his colleague Noorie (Geetanjali Thapa), and decides to start a new life with her. He moves out from his shared apartment and rents a newly built flat on the 35th floor at a relatively low price. His happiness knows no bounds, but little did he know that the hasty decision to rent a flat without even consulting Noorie would land him in trouble which he would have never thought of even in his wildest dreams. 

After spending a comfortable night there alone, he wakes up to go to the office the next day, locks the room from outside and rushes towards the lift, but he suddenly realizes that he has forgotten his phone in his room. He goes back, opens the flat to get his phone, but the door gets locked by itself forever.  

Though Shaurya gets frustrated, he never loses hope until his phone conks off. He tries various things to draw attention from the flat security who is unaware of the fact that someone has finally inhabited a 2 BHK home in the apartment which started its construction two years ago.   

After a couple of days, he resorts to extreme things out of the hope that he will be able to receive help or garner attention from someone who stays in the adjacent buildings, but in vain. The lack of electricity, food and water makes things worse for him, leaving him claustrophobic in every way.

The highlight of the film is the manner in which the director has succeeded in making the audience feel claustrophobic, too, thanks to the effective drama that unfolds on screen in a limited space. The movie, which has a run time of a little more than 100 minutes, revolves only around the plethora of expressions and reactions from Rajkummar for more than an hour's time.

The film becomes sluggish after a point due to the space constraints which its story demands and the one-act by the protagonist, but the filmmaker ensures that the viewers have ample reasons to empathize with the character's horrifying struggles.

Siddharth Diwan's cinematography complements the realistic approach of the screenplay and stunning performance by Rajkummar, while Alokananda Dasgupta's slow background score keeps reminding us of the eeriness in critical situations. The film, which completes five years today, is one of the intriguing claustrophobic thrillers to have been made in Bollywood.

Trapped is streaming on Zee5.