Tired of Preachy Bollywood? Stolen Exposes Hypocrisy Without Saying a Word
In an era where mainstream Hindi cinema often shies away from real introspection, Karan Tejpal’s debut feature Stolen arrives like a slap in the face — and not a gentle one. Starring Abhishek Banerjee in a raw, unsettling lead role, Stolen is a rare Hindi film that doesn’t pander to its audience but actively calls them out — and, frankly, it’s about time.
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What is STOLEN Movie About?
While Bollywood continues to churn out tone-deaf vanity projects, feel-good social dramas, and state-approved narratives that confuse lecture for storytelling, Stolen takes the opposite route. It delivers its “message” not through end-credit infographics or preachy monologues, but through grim storytelling, uncomfortable silences, and morally grey characters.
The film opens at a sleepy railway station, where Gautam (Banerjee) waits for his brother Raman. A tribal woman’s infant is kidnapped right in front of them, thrusting them into a situation that neither is emotionally prepared to handle. Where most films would place the heroes on a noble path, Stolen explores the uglier, more believable instinct — to look away. To leave. To mind your business.
But it’s precisely this hesitation, this self-preserving apathy, that Stolen turns into its central thesis. It’s not just a crime drama — it’s a scathing mirror to a society that has normalized disengagement.
Stolen Hindi film – Is It Worth Watching?
While Gautam is reluctant and borderline cowardly, it’s Raman who steps up — not because he’s a hero, but because he realizes the weight of his privilege. The film cleverly subverts expectations by having the most despicable character become the moral center by the end. The social commentary unfolds gradually, with a precision that makes the final act feel earned, not tacked on.
And that’s where Stolen stands apart. Unlike films such as Mimi or Chhori, which rely on data dumps and moral signposting, Stolen trusts its audience — even as it calls them out. It trusts us to connect the dots, even if some of us would rather tune into Bigg Boss or scroll past yet another headline about missing children.
In one of the film’s most subtle punches, it holds a mirror to India’s hypocrisy — a country that speaks of women’s safety, yet blames them for their own assaults. That boasts about its hospitality while letting tourists get harassed and scammed in public. That preaches about empathy, but lives in gated bubbles.
At just over 90 minutes, Stolen is a searing, uncomfortable, and often damning critique of who we are as a people. And maybe the most shocking part? It doesn’t offer redemption to the viewer, so it is 100% worth the watch. There’s no neat resolution, no feel-good moment. Just the gnawing sense that we are the problem.