The trailer made it clear that 7 to 4 is about a vigilante group of professionals who take on sexual savages in their own savage ways. Starring unfamiliar faces in the roles of upright cops, who are frustrated at their inability to punish sexual predators as per the rulebook, the film tells the story of how these cops make it their mission to cleanse the city of rapists.
Anand Bachu, Raj Bala, Radhika, and Loukya are members of an informally-formed group who resort to extra-constitutional methods in making the city a safer place for women. Their way is to trap gangs of rapists by defeating them at their own game. Their 'treatment' consists of mercilessly castring such males and burning them alive after some days. Well, if you are a weak heart, better...
The film begins with a chained lecher, who has been locked up in a room for many days, begging to be released from torture. The team of three start off nabbing one rapist gang after another. If the male cops are patient, the female cop is impatient to emasculate the offender's genitals. In their attempt to cleanse the city of predators who methodically trap women only to rape them, the team is a law unto themselves. They call themselves White Tigers, derive job satisfaction from it, and even have a hierarchy!
Their mission starts from 7 p.m. onwards and goes on till 4 a.m., later which another team takes over. Their biggest mission tonight is to castrate a grandpa, his grandson and friends.
Made on a shoestring budget, the first half is modestly entertaining. The performances of the lead cast are restrained and the dialogue, minimal. The problem begins in the second half when we are mercilessly treated to more of the same. After a point, you murmur, "How many are they gonna castrate?"
The writer might not have looked at a complex script. So, it's understandable that there are no elements like opposition from the law to their inhumane and socially dangerous vigilantism. However, the writer could have come up with many ideas to enrich the script. Why is there no wit in the discussions among the cops? Why is there no threat to them from within the department or from antagonists outside? There is a cop who is collecting info about the parallel group, but even his character is not leveraged to make the proceedings edge-of-the-seat.
In the absence of such elements, you can't be blamed for shrugging at the more-of-the-sameness.
Director-producer Vijay Sekhar Sankranthi’s does a fair job in extracting good performances. Snehalatha Murali's music and BGM could have been better as, in some places, it comes across as repetitious. Usha Utthup's number is good, though. The cinematography could have been better.
Verdict: The story of a vigilante group impresses to an extent. Watch it with modest expectations.
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