2008 · Film
A Wednesday!
Neeraj Pandey's thriller about a Mumbai police commissioner negotiating with an anonymous caller who threatens to set off bombs across the city.
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Sun, 18 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 18 October 2026, A Wednesday! is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
With subscription
Checked Sun, 18 Oct, 2026Open ↗
The story
On the day before he retires, Mumbai police commissioner Prakash Rathod recalls the most challenging case of his career, one that never made it into any official record. One Wednesday afternoon, an unnamed man calls Rathod and says he has planted five bombs around Mumbai, set to go off within four hours. His demand is the release of four militants held in police custody. While Rathod's team races to trace the caller, the man also contacts a television news reporter.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
A short, tightly timed thriller of about 100 minutes, a good pick for viewers who like real-time negotiations and police procedurals. It deals with terrorism and bomb threats and includes some violence, so it is better for teens and adults.
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
A Wednesday! was the first feature written and directed by Neeraj Pandey, produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Shital Bhatia and Anjum Rizvi under UTV Motion Pictures and Friday Filmworks. Wikipedia notes that the script was inspired by the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings.
Its release was delayed so it would not clash with UTV's Mumbai Meri Jaan, another film about the train blasts, and it opened on 5 September 2008. It grossed about ₹12 crore in India, was profitable for its producers and distributors, and was granted tax exemption in Maharashtra. Pandey won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director at the 56th National Film Awards, and at the Screen Awards he won Best Director, Best Story and Most Promising Debut Director. The film was remade in Tamil as Unnaipol Oruvan and in Telugu as Eenadu (both 2009), and in English as the Sri Lankan film A Common Man (2013), starring Ben Kingsley.
The facts
- Language
- Hindi
- Hindi
- Hindi original
- Genre
- Thriller
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Director
- Neeraj Pandey
- Cast
- Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Sheirgill, Aamir Bashir, Deepal Shaw
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch A Wednesday! in India?
- As of 18 October 2026, A Wednesday! is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
- Is A Wednesday! in Hindi?
- Yes. A Wednesday! is a Hindi-language film.
- How long is A Wednesday!?
- A Wednesday! runs for 1 hour 39 minutes (99 minutes).