Film : Talaash
Cast : Aamir Khan , Rani Mukherji, Kareena Kapoor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Director : Reema Kagti
Rating : *** and a 1/2
Aamir Khan is back , and how!! Talaash was probably the best 'comeback' (but then, he does that every time :) ) film he could have wished for - a film which is commercial to its core, without any pretensions and at the same time, not sacrificing logic and common sense just to keep their cash-registers ringing .
Talaash starts off as a conventional murder mystery , one which has resulted in the death of a Bollywood superstar Armaan Kapoor , under mysterious circumstances. The protagonist , Surjan Singh Shekhawat, in charge of this case, finds out that there is more to it than meets the eye; that there are layers to this mystery no one is aware of. As we get deeper into the story , one realizes that the same can be said of the principal characters too . Surjan himself suffers from an inescapable grief, the loss of someone very dear to him ,and he keeps blaming himself for it . He wants to share his angst , his sadness with someone but isn't able to; and in that way , his grief and the associated guilt make him an introvert . As Surjan ,Aamir gives a stellar performance , showing admirable and requisite restraint and never going over-the-top in his portrayal of emotions, be it through his dialogues or his body language ; speaking of body language, its his eyes which do most of the talking in a few scenes.
Surjan's wife, so subtly portrayed by Rani , is a person who shares her husband's grief ,and herself has been shattered by it . She is remarkably subtle in her portrayal of the character and like Aamir, is careful not to over do anything. Her role though small, has the desired impact and her performance makes it sure that Roshni (Surjan's wife) is not another prop in the set ,not a stereotypical wife-of-the-protagonist.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui - what do I say about him that hasn't already been said in the papers ? Suffice to say that as always ,Nawaz internalizes the role of 'Tahmur' , and delivers a performance worth remembering .
Kareena Kapoor has been a revelation. The girl is a motormouth off screen , maybe a bit vain too , but give her a strong author backed role and she will sink her teeth into it. As Rosy / Simran , Kareena is alluring and at the same time, confusing and mysterious. She is ,in some ways , the 'sutradhar' of the story , giving us (and Surjan ) bits and pieces of evidence , to help the case. I know I have given too much information about the plot or the central idea, but should I ? Its a suspense thriller after all . :)
Is this film perfect ? No , not by a far shot. The script has some glaring loopholes. Even the climax ( a totally unexpected one at that) deserves a bit of explanation. Some of the loose ends weren't tied up till the end, and it tries a bit too hard to project itself as a 'noir' film.
In that case, why should one see the film ? The answer is simple- go see the film to get your money's worth as far as the suspense value is concerned ;stellar performances from the main cast, good songs blended into the screenplay and what you have is a quintessential 'masala' film, molded into a neo-noir kind of an experience .
Definitely worth a watch once. Maybe twice too .
Shashwat.
