Talaash - REVIEW THREAD - Page 5

There's a great scene in Talaash where the laconic Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) gets a phone call from a Times of India reporter, probing for details of the high-profile case he's working on: the death of a Bollywood star in a mysterious accident on Mumbai's Seaface Road. Shekhawat bangs the phone down in irritation, goes out and asks his staff who has good connections with the media, and promptly confiscates the cellphones of all those who put their hands up. Nothing about this case should get out in the public domain, he says sternly – not until the mystery is solved.

The scene could well be a nice little in-joke cracked by the film's makers—substitute 'case' with 'plot' and you have before you the problem of reviewingTalaash. Reema Kagti's second directorial outing (after 2007's delightfully quirky Honeymoon Travels) is a film whose effect depends heavily on plot. And because I think you should all have the pleasure of that plot unfolding, slowly but surely, on screen as well as in your head, I am going to try and write the impossible: a review that tells you everything you need to know, but gives away nothing.

So the film begins with an accident. A famous young man is found dead, and a quietly determined inspector is put on the job. But his investigation throws up more questions than answers. The dead man had sent his chauffeur home and was driving himself from a late-night shoot, which he never usually did. He hadn't consumed any alcohol and his car was in perfect condition, yet it swerved clean off the road, into the sea. Then there is mention of a bag of money that ought to have been with him, but is missing. The one lead Shekhawat is sure of is a smalltime pimp named Shashi, but he's missing as well.

Shekhawat isn't doing too well on the home front either. His wife (Rani Mukherjee) is depressed, he's all wound up inside, and the lines of communication between them seem to have broken down. As the case gets more and more opaque, his emotional life gets foggier. The one person who appears as a beacon of hope is a flirtatious young hooker called Rosie (Kareena Kapoor) who seems like she might both help him solve the case and soothe his frazzled nerves.

As you can see from the bare bones of this plot, this is pure Bombay noir, of the kind that has been immortalised by countless books and films in the course of the twentieth century: a seamy urban underbelly populated by sassy prostitutes and ostensibly kadak policemen, high class clients with low-level morals, hopeless pimps who turn hopeful informers. It is a bleak take on a bleak world, in which everyone is on the make and people are too caught up in their own day-to-day survival to care for much else.

As early as the 1940s, Saadat Hasan Manto had inscribed the city with this sad burden of unfeelingness. "No one in the building felt any sympathy for her, perhaps because their lives were so difficult that that had no time to think about others. No one had any friends," he wrote in the story 'Ten Rupees'.

Talaash certainly belongs in this tradition, setting the high life of the rich up against a seedy brothel complete with the requisite filmi-style madam and requisite low-life hanger-on (the marvelous Nawazuddin Siddiqui). But what it achieves is a rare balance. It isn't a throwback to the happy-go-lucky noir of a Howrah Bridge, where there's never any doubt that Madhubala's lovely dancing girl will be redeemed – but neither is it interested in bludgeoning us with unrelenting tragedy, the way a Chandni Bar did.

Bad things happen, for sure, but not only bad things. And no one is an unmitigated bad person. Yet the film's moral universe is underpinned by a satisfying sense of justice: acts that hurt people, whether by omission or commission, get their just deserts.

This balancing act extends to the look and feel of the film as well – there is grit, but there is also gloss. The film is beautifully shot, and comes with achingly lovely songs. It seems quite clear – right from the title sequence, where smoky streets filled with destitute chillum-smokers and brittle hookers are made the stuff of a late-night nostalgic-romantic tour of the city – that we are not here to see a realist police procedural.

That's fine, and it's a pleasure to see a film which pays its loving homage to everything fromDirty Harry to Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam to Shaan with such elegance. But the film's desire for glossiness has its problems. For me, for example, the Rosie character, though beautifully written for the most part, often failed to work simply because there was such a hopeless eliding of the class differences that would exist between a Rosie and a Shekhawat.

It's not that a cop can't fall in love with a hooker, but surely there would be a clearer sense of what separates them, even if to provide additional frisson? The film's weird refusal to acknowledge class status (while speaking incessantly of it) is made concrete, of course, by giving the role to Kareena Kapoor, whose ineffable poshness makes her attempts to sound like a streetwalker fall flat. One must concede that she has s**ttiness down pat – she oozes sexuality with every gesture. It's just that the gestures are Kareena's, they never quite seem like Rosie's.

There's also the fact that Rosie's role as ministering angel to the troubled hero is a reprising of every golden-hearted wh**e that you've ever seen, from Devdas to Muqaddar ka Sikandar. But my growing annoyance at the Kareena character's other-regarding and self-sacrificing nature did receive a blow before the film was done, so I have no grounds for complaint. Meanwhile, as the Madonna to Kareena's Magdalene, Rani Mukherjee does rather well with a small role.

As a sad-eyed housewife with the ironic name of Roshni, the actress brings a profound and identifiable pathos to her dark and solitary days in an even darker house. Rani has always had the capacity to be heartbreaking – and then unexpectedly feisty – and here she does both with aplomb.

I reserve my last words for Aamir Khan: if, like me, you have a lingering memory of the affecting boy-man with inner steely core – the one you fell in love with way back in Raakh, or Dil, and have been wondering about for years, you need look no further. Your Talaash has ended.

The much-awaited Aamir Khan starrer, "Talaash" opened in theaters worldwide on Nov. 30. Directed by Reema Kagti, the project is jointly produced by Excel Entertainment and Aamir Khan Productions.

Just like any other Aamir Khan flick, expectations soar. Moreover, when it's backed with the immense accomplished team of Reema Kagti, Zoya and Farhan Akhtar who recently gave us a heart-rending movie like "Zindagai Na Milegi Dobara", hopes sky rocket.

Did the suspense thriller meet the huge expectations of the critics? Here's a round-up of what the eminent critics had to say about, "Talaash." (For audience reviews, clickhere.)

"Aamir Khan is back and yes, with a bang. Even though this reviewer is not a die-hard fan of Aamir Khan, the truth is that you can love him or hate him, but there's no escaping his films. Talaash, which was originally slated to release last year, proves once again this actor's films are not to be skipped and completely worth the wait.

The plot of the film is what proves to be a real winner as it leads to a logical, yet questionable end. While the movie is slow before the interval as it tries to establish the plot moving back and forth in time, the second half will leave you scratching your head as you try to piece everything together along with the lead actor.

Khan is not particularly brilliant in the film, but he does complete justice to his role. To his credit, he plays the multi-layered character of a grief-struck father and an honest cop with complete ease.

Mukherjee does not have much to do in the film, but her deglamorized avatar creates a strong impression. She is quite convincing in the role of a devastated mother and a concerned wife.

Kapoor does not have much to do in the first half of the film, but her character takes a front seat in the second half. She is charming and looks even more convincing in the role of a sex worker than she did in Chameli.

Reema and Zoya Akhtar have spun a gripping tale that will capture your attention from the very first minute and will definitely leave you surprised by the end of it. Though there are a few clichs, they can be ignored when you consider the entire package.

Talaash is not a flawless film, but it is a fascinating tale that compels one to look beyond that which is evident. You can't miss this one." - Kanika Sikka, DNA India, 3.5

"By no means is Talaash the end of your search for the perfect whodunit. But there is so much going for this compelling, slow-burning, well-acted tale set in the dark, grimy underbelly of Mumbai that you can barely take your eye off the screen.

But this is an Aamir Khan film, so it is the demands of the script that determine the amount of time that the male protagonist is apportioned on the screen. Yes, the superstar does not hog all the limelight even though it is his strong and emotionally beleaguered character that is at the centre of the drama.

The quality of the screenplay written by Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar – every frame is crammed with dramatic and spatial details and even when the film appears to be somewhat sluggish there isn't a single scene that comes across as superfluous – lifts Talaash well above the ordinary.

The perfectly modulated performances by the lead trio give Talaash its frisson. Aamir Khan sinks his teeth into the cop act with effortless ease but underplays his hand to accentuate the introspective nature of the troubled man.

A deglamorized Rani Mukherji plays her role with finesse and a great sense of empathy, while Kareena Kapoor is at her seductive best. Not to be missed." – Saibal Chatterjee, NDTV, 3.5

"Talaash stands on its feet for the reason that it merges conspiracy, tension and tragedy with dexterousness. Add to it the turn of events, the razor sharp dialogue and of course, the suspense... Talaash takes the suspense angle to a new altitude altogether, emerging into an exceptionally constructed mystery.

Talaash is dramatic and absorbing, both. Director Reema Kagti takes up an attention-grabbing premise and along with co-writer Zoya Akhtar spins a tale that makes the viewer a participant of sorts.

While the cop tries hard to solve the jigsaw puzzle, the spectator, with his mind wide alert by now, gets intrigued by what he observes and perceives and is keen to get to the bottom of the mystery himself/herself. That, in my opinion, is why this suspense drama works. Frankly, it's the sort of film that's extremely tough to pull off, but Reema has a strong control of the material and together with her efficient team pulls off the trick with aplomb and composure.

In addition, Reema creates the right ambiance essential for a suspense drama. The tale is stylishly told and the authentic mood keeps you on the edge of the seat for most part of those two hours.

Though Aamir has portrayed the role of a cop earlier, he brings something new to the table with his spellbinding performance in Talaash. The earnestness and authenticity with which he enacts his character cannot be expressed in a few sentences. That would be doing gross injustice to the actor's abilities, frankly.

Both Rani and Kareena are given a moment in the sun, despite Aamir dominating the film with a power-packed performance.

Talaash is an outstanding film. A taut psychological thriller that keeps you guessing till the end, it leaves you spellbound, leaves you mesmerized, leaves you with an exclamation, 'Wow!'. An absolute must watch for all movie buffs. You just can't afford to miss this one!" – Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama, 4.5

"Writing and making thrillers is never easy. It has to be gripping, should engage the viewers and has to steer away from predictability. And Reema Kagti's 'Talaash' scores in all these aspects.

Written by Reema and Zoya Akhtar, 'Talaash' grips you from the very first shot and keeps you hooked through the two and half hours of its runtime. A tale of loss, betrayal and revenge, the film explores the many versions of truth and questions the obvious, leaving the viewer thinking of things unexplained.

The film's narrative is slow and takes time to establish itself. In fact the initial shots almost make the viewer think that there are parallel plots in the story. But Kagti beautifully joins all the dots.

While the story is clearly the highlight of the film, the cast beautifully takes it forward. Aamir Khan lives up to his image of experimenting with a role of a dark Surjan Singh Shekhawat.

Aamir gives a very restraint performance and stays away from the stereotype, giving depth to his character. He plays a gritty cop but is also messiah to the needy. He is concerned about his wife's mental state but himself finds it difficult to come to terms with his past.

Rani makes the de-glam, depressive Roshni a character who you want to sympathise with.

But of the three leading cast, it is Kareena who shines the most as the friendly, helpful prostitute Rosy. She looks beautiful, in spite of her gaudy outfits, doesn't over act (which she tends to do in many of her films) and demands all your attention when on screen. In fact in certain scenes, she overshadows Aamir, partly because her character is such and partly because at the end of the day she can act, provided she is given a good script and a good director.

Watch it for the story. That is the actual hero of the film. The brilliant actors are just an icing on the cake." - Shomini Sen, Zee, 4

"Talaash, as is common knowledge, is a suspense film but isn't supported with the complementing thriller genre. While it certainly is a who-dun-it, it isn't essentially an edge-of-the-seat experience. Director Reema Kagti intentionally chooses this treatment tone to lend individuality to the murder mystery. But the cinematic gratification is largely subjective.

Director Reema Kagti designs Talaash as a subtle suspense drama. There are no dramatic entries, no stylized action and mercifully even item numbers are avoided (despite the looming red-light area backdrop). Kagti doesn't restrict her film as a mechanical crime investigative flick but works towards adding a human touch to the drama.

Aamir Khan is resourcefully restrained and is persuasive in his multifaceted character. While he is a commanding cop at work, he is a vulnerable man at home.

Rani Mukherji is poised in her portrayal of a woman who has come out of a personal tragedy yet made to believe she is locked in it. She is wonderful in that one scene where she confronts her husband.

Kareena Kapoor, despite the deliberate garish look, has an appeal but seems to be in the Chameli character hangover. Nonetheless she doesn't disappoint.

There are some mystery elements in Talaash that will fascinate you even more on second viewing as you would be able to notice the finer nuances in the bigger scheme of things. However the bigger question is would you have the patience and proclivity to sit through the film again? Nevertheless, if you are not searching for the finest suspense film ever, Talaash is a good one-time watch!" - Gaurav Malani- TOI- Good

"Make no mistake, Talaash is a Vikram Bhatt film.

Which isn't to say Bhatt actually made it (though he or Mohit Suri or Pooja Bhatt may well have at some point, who dare keep count) but that it has a story built on the exact same pulpy foundations.

To give credit where due, director Reema Kagti and her crew show significant flair in terms of creating atmosphere.

There are a few essentials for a police procedural film, all rather basic: either the crime should be a stupefying one, one which raises many a "how in the world" question and flummoxes audience and investigator; or the suspects should be interesting and complex, those whose motivations become clearer only when the film gets less murky; or the investigator himself should be a compelling protagonist, someone who makes you either care about himself or the case, ideally rooting for his success.

And if all else fails, then it should be thrilling enough to hide the lack of the above.

Alas, Talaash ticks none of these boxes. It starts off well, but simmers far too long before it gets to the boil. The case -- of an actor driving off the highway and into the sea -- is only marginally intriguing since the police never really explore its mechanics, and the suspects it throws up mostly insignificant.

Someone asked me if Talaash was a watchable film, and indeed it is. It's better put together than a lot of the films we see here, and definitely strongly acted, but ends up so, so much less enjoyable than it deserved to be." – Raja Sen, Rediff, 2.5

"Talaash's story and plot is such that to describe any scene would be to give away the suspense. The story is real, enacted by extremely able actors, who make the movie thrilling, in just the right measure. Every turn surprises you, shocks you even, and has you completely involved in the story playing out on screen

It's not predictable in the least, and that's where Talaash scores high! In Bollywood, to make a film that has the audience on the edge of their seats is a huge achievement. And that's what Talaash does. It gets you in, as soon as the first reel rolls, and holds you right till the very end.

Rani Mukerji slips into the role of the anguished housewife with ease, as only an actress with her repertoire of films can. Kareena Kapoor plays the role of the hooker in her inimitably glamourous style, where she balances the flighty edges with a serious performance.

Aamir Khan adds another memorable character to his long list of celluloid avatars with an incredible performance as Inspector Surjan. In Talaash, Aamir's physical persona, especially his eyes, enable his performance far more than the sharply written dialogue.

The realness of the story has not been compromised at all and the believability factor stays high throughout. Even some parts that need explanations are not handed out like sermons or with reams of unnecessary dialogue – they are dealt with, in the narrative with action, flash cuts and voiceovers that are worked seamlessly into the storyline." – Rubina A Khan, First post, 4

Movie review: 'Talaash' - Tense and taut

'Talaash' is consistent as a thriller. In fact its slow, measured to-the-point story telling is its greatest strength

The bizarre death of an actor Armaan Kapoor sets off the story. Newly transferred Inspector Surjan Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) gets on the case. The officer and his wife Roshni (Rani Mukerji) are still settling down into their new house and battling with the loss of their only son in another freak accident a year or so ago.

The tragedy and the ensuing parental guilt about it has also brought in a lot of emotional distance in the couple. His investigations of the actor's death bring Suri to the red light precincts of the city and in particular proximity to prostitute Rosie (Kareena Kapoor).

Even as the prostitute helps him get closer to solving the actor's death case, Suri realizes he is distancing himself farther from his wife. The case too is getting more and more elusive to nail. Bas! Without giving away the suspense, that is all one can say about the plot.

Reema's film is somber, sensitive but above all controlled. She manages to portray the juxtaposition of Shekhawat's personal and professional dilemma with empathy and ease. Ram Sampath's background score is gritty just like the underbelly setting of the film.

And he thankfully avoids the standard scare-by-sound techniques most composers use for thrillers. The performances too are excellent. Nawazuddin, the find of the season, does a swell job as the crippled conniving Taimur. Aamir's Surjan is always leashed, stingy with his humour as well as anger but utterly superb as the pivot of the film.

Rani Mukerji has a layered complex character which she plays faultlessly. Her grief is tangible and her angry outbursts heart-rending. Kareena has a flatter, glitzier part but she is also flawless. (The actresses may conclude that it is better to do one supporting role in a film like this than a thousand main roles in films like Heroine and 'Aiyya'.) Except for their get-ups. Which young housewife wears cotton sarees teamed with low-cut blouses at home?

Also, not matter how much eye-glitter she wears, Kareena does not look like a low-class hooker. At the most, she looks like a SoBo college student just having discovered the marvels of make-up. But these are just cosmetic reasons. Otherwise, the film is definitely worth a watch.

http://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/2012/nov/301112-Talaash-movie-review.htm

i hope the movie is not too slow...😡