Movie review: ��Talaash�۪
��Talaash�۪ (2012) promised to be the suspense film to relaunch the thriller genre with finesse into the Bollywood film industry. When speaking to the cast and the director this month, one thing was clear, none of them wanted to say anything about the film that would take away from the storyline for the audience. The theatrical trailer did not give away much about the film either apart from the fact that it was set in the streets of Mumbai and the actresses Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji were rumoured to not share any screen space in the film. Would this film live up to its much hyped thriller image? Can director Reema Kagti bring life back into the thriller genre?
The film starts with a car accident of a famous film start who mysteriously swerves into the sea to his death. What looks like a typical road accident turns into a murder mystery and new to the city, Inspector Suri Sherawat (Aamir Khan) heads up the investigation. Suri�۪s personal life is on equally unstable ground where his wife Roshni (Rani Mukerji) is struggling to come to terms with their son�۪s death. ��On his investigation trail, Suri meets Rosie (Kareena Kapoor), a lady of the night, who holds a source of attraction for Suri.
The first half of this film does try your patience as it takes a while to build up to the suspense. You do find yourself losing interest in the investigation and trying to find out where the film is taking you. ��There is no real sympathy built up around the characters and the focus is very much on showing the non-glamorous side of Mumbai.�� When the suspense is finally revealed by the end of the film, it just seems like a prolonged end to a film that went on too long.
The storyline is largely based around two factors, the investigation and the death of Suri�۪s son but they run as two independent stories. ��They do try and link them very loosely but it just doesn�۪t work as well as it should. Director Reema Kagti has shot this film very artistically. Throughout the film, you can tell that she has thought through every nuance of each scene and it is that attention to detail that keeps the film going. ��Ms Kagti was intent on delivering an emotional thriller and she succeeds in doing this but the length of the film means that we lose our empathy for the characters. The dialogue does not help either which is cringeworthy enough with philosophies being spouted by Ms Kapoor�۪s character. What is remarkable is the lack of any item numbers in the film which prevents the audience taking a break from the storyline which does work.
Aamir Khan is remarkably restrained in this film and is at his best in effectively playing a character with two faces. Being a police officer in this film, there are no real fight sequences and that makes the film a lot more realistic to watch. Rani Mukerji plays a role she has played so well countless times, the wronged woman and apart from one fantastic scene where she confronts her husband, she is largely silent throughout the film. She is very simply dressed throughout the film and that helps keep her character in context with the rest of the film. Kareena Kapoor effectively revives her role of ��Chameli�۪ again in this film but without the song and dance sequences and persistent swearing.
��Talaash�۪ is not the film to end all suspense thrillers and to be honest; one viewing of the film is enough. If the film was shorter, maybe it would have been a better paced story but the way it stands, it does try your patience.
Star rating: ***
