Slow but edgy and clever

Whodunits often revolve around scripts. Bollywood often backed its western adaptations with some haunting music ala Madan Mohan etc to tell their stories.

They often kept the audience more involved with the music of the times than a tight script. Films like Kahaani Samay and Khamosh were exceptions. Ribhu Dasgupta offers a good script and juxtapositions it with some great actors and takes you on a leisurely tour of Kolkata.

We first have John Biswas Amitabh Bachchan who cannot get over the kidnapping and killing of his granddaughter Angela by some unknown person.

He spends his septuagenarian life taking care of his wheel-chaired wife Nancy Padmavati Rao and trying to find out who killed their granddaughter.

He does not give up and is a regular visitor at the police station. The local inspector Sarita Vidya Balan has given up on the investigation. The kidnapper has taken the ransom but has killed the child. The film begins with John and inspector Martin (Nawazuddin
Siddiqui) trying to retrieve Angela.

Eight years after the search, the police wake up to yet another case where the grand child of Manohar (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) is kidnapped.

The script is shockingly similar as are the clues and the trappings. While Sarita believes she has the criminal, Martin would not be willing to take the clues at face value. The story slowly (actually very slowly) but absorbingly unfurls and takes you to the climax. Saying anything more would
be telling.

While the kidnap in the case of the grandchild of John is flimsy the one dealing with Manohar seems to have a stronger motive. Tucked in the crematorium is the tombstone of Angela.

The film starts with the translucent grief in the eyes of Bachchan and is often told as interplay between the principal three characters:

Amitabh Vidya and Nawazuddin. The film does not give you any shocking moments. In fact, in the earlier part the entire script is on predictable lines. The rickety scooter and the claustrophobic home space (a la the Last Lear) pack the film in favour of Amitabh and not surprisingly.

There is a Kahaani like Kolkata hangover to the film and the director ensures that you are interested in the goings on at all points in time. It endures very pleasantly and does not get to being nerve shattering, the morbidity of the tale notwithstanding.

Full credit to Ribu Dasgupta for keeping the viewer interested throughout the film though very often it moves on predictable lines. One school of whodunits strongly go by getting into the tale of a person hitherto not important in the script to be the villain of the piece.

The crime thriller then is not just about who did it but also about why.

The motive factor of the crime makes for interesting storytelling if the guess of the villain is not visible. Any which way the director offers an interesting tale. Inspired (and acknowledged) by a Korean film Montage the running time too is just sufficient to not overstate. The cast assures a level of credibility to the film.

Amitabh has long since graduated to doing films of his age and is arguably to be the fortunate lone star for whom scripts are still written.

He takes good advantage of the good fortune. There are times you suspect he overdoes his job but where you draw the line is a personal call. He has always been a director’s actor and if the end product looks a tad too tried then perhaps it is Dasgupta’s call. Vidya Balan is just right.

Credited with doing a guest appearance she is a guest who stays for long in fact throughout the film, if not in every frame. The film however shows Nawazuddin yet again showcasing his superiority as an actor.

It is not often that an actor keeps his own in the presence of Big B. In this outing he shows an understanding of the script and the media even better than Big B and leaves a greater impression.
The film may be at times a tad tiring and meandering but the climax gets things in perspective.

Cast : Amitabh Bachchan Nawazuddin Siddiqui
and Vidya Balan
Direction : Ribhu Dasgupta
Genre : Thriller
Like : Nawazuddin and rest of the cast
Dislike : One part rather loose