Costao Review
Director: Sejal Shah
Date Created: 2025-05-01 19:40
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Costao Review: Sejal Shah’s biopic film is about a Goa’s customs officer who dared to challenge the state’s corrupt forces, and had to pay an enormous ransom for it. Costao is played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Priya Bapat plays the role of his wife Maria. It is inspired by real-life events of the early ’90s, when Fernandes challenged the powerful forces involved in gold smuggling. The tension is palpable, and the drama is authentic, the courtroom suspense layers of blackness.
Costao Review
What drew me to Zee5’s Costao initially was that it is a story based on actual events. You don’t see people standing up for themselves nowadays, in the face of corruption and greed. The idea of just such a humble, nice man going so far as to lose everything to do something for justice is interesting. And as a viewer, you can’t help but be impressed by that.
But I must also say that the story, while triumphant, is not always as compelling as it might be. There are times when the action is slow, and the tension gets bogged down in the slower pace and more elaborate exposition.
One of the greatest aspects of the Costao movie is its protagonist. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays Fernandes Costao with understated intensity, a man who will not move from his convictions even when the world is against him. He understates it and is real. You sense his frustration, powerlessness and strength simultaneously.
I also liked Maria, the wife of Costao. Her character is not just that of a subservient wife; she too, has her own emotional arc, and Priya Bapat plays it with dignity and pathos. And to see her defend and stand up for her husband in the presence of senior officers, only to choose to escape for her children’s sake, was so human and heartbreaking. I could see why she did it and why the choice was made to make her do it as a part of the narrative.
I also appreciated the dry humour with which Costao talked to his wife. It was relief amidst a wound-tight and unfair movie. It was a real relationship, as if a couple were making do amidst the chaos. It’s a very well-crafted and significant film, and I felt the film could have been improved, however. The screenplay was the greatest issue for me. The Costao character is multifaceted; he’s a patriot, a family man and a fighter, but at times the screenplay doesn’t delve deeply enough into his inner conflict. We’re told he’s honest and fearless, but we don’t always get to sense his personal emotional development.
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The villains of the film, the politicians and officials in particular, are a tad too cartoonish. While the situation is high-stakes, I wanted to know more about the psychological undertones of the people who have turned out the way they have. Nuance would have lent weight to the story.
The scenes in the courtroom were a tad too much, though understandably so. The tension wasn’t quite tense enough, the lines not quite staccato enough. I found myself getting impatient at times for the story to get underway.
The film does not sugarcoat the reality that being a whistleblower is not a cakewalk. Costao was eventually vindicated by the Supreme Court, but only after years of suffering. By that time, the harm had already been inflicted on his career, on his reputation, on his life.
It illustrates how, year in and year out, “doing the right thing” doesn’t always earn you a standing ovation or a victory; it can actually earn you more battles. And yet, some people opt to battle. That is what makes this story worth watching.
Summing Up
Costao is not an out-of-the-box fantastic movie, but it is a necessary movie. It says the obvious, but needed, thing that real heroes do not wear capes; they wear uniforms, work in dirty government offices and risk their lives every day to enforce the law. I just wish the story had been more fleshed out and that the characters’ paths rang more true, but I believe Costao is worth seeing, particularly for those performances and for its honesty. It does it without flair, but it’s genuine.
Costao 2025 is now streaming on Zee5.
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