Traffic is based on the true story of 2009 when police faced an impossible mission of transporting heart through road. It is a story of a young boy of about 21 years who has just met with an accident and of another girl who urgently needs heart. The boy is critical and his heart needs to be taken out before he dies and the heart needs to be transplanted to the girl of 12 years at the earliest.
The story of Traffic takes place over the course of a single day and is inspired by a real-life incident from Chennai, as shown in the credits. In Pune, superstar Dev Kapoor's daughter is sick and needs an urgent heart transplant. Elsewhere in Mumbai, trainee journalist Reyhan meets with an accident and is declared clinically dead. Reyhan's parents decide to donate his heart to Dev's daughter. However, rains and low visibility conditions make it impossible to transport the heart by air and the only option is to traverse the 150 km by road.
Though initially apprehensive, Joint Traffic Commissioner Raghubir Singh accepts the challenge and seeks a volunteer from among his men to drive at 120 kph, through the busy Mumbai streets. Disgraced traffic constable Godbole (who has just rejoined the force after being suspended for taking a bribe to help his sister) puts up his hand and thus begins the journey. He is joined by Reyhan's friend Rajeev and Dr Abel, a surgeon, who is battling his own personal demons.
The movie is a remake of Rajesh Pillai's Malayalam thriller of the same name. Traffic released after a long delay and unfortunately, director Rajesh Pillai died before he could see the fruit of his efforts onscreen.
The characters and key-plot situations are seamlessly interwoven. Special mentions are reserved for Manoj Bajpayee and Jimmy Sheirgill, who are A-grade. Though, they're just in extended cameos; these two effortlessly rise above the length of their roles. Traffic does not preach or boast but it touches hearts. Watch it for the emotional connect, and of course, the wonderful performances.
