The women in charge of Bollywood are rapidly proving that they really know how to make a movie. Written by the brilliant duo of Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar, and directed by Kagti, Talaash is another movie that proves that Bollywood isn't as clichéd as people imagine.
The opening credits present Mumbai's streets at night, featuring its seediest and most vulnerable inhabitants, all set to a smoky song that immediately sets the movie's film noir tone. The first scene gives us a spectacular car crash and the ensuing investigation serves as the plot. Inspector Shekhawat (the ever-amazing Aamir Khan) is the lead investigator who has to determine why the man in the car, a famous actor, drove his car off the road and into the ocean, and why exactly he was alone in the wee hours in such a seedy area of town. Shekhawat is a good cop, and intelligent and incorruptible member of the notorious Mumbai police force. However, he is also struggling with a personal tragedy, the accidental drowning of his eight-year old son, which has naturally devastated him and his wife (the wonderful Rani Mukerji) and is eating away at their marriage. The scenes chronicling their relationship are particularly affecting and lend an emotional core to the movie in the midst of all the sordid suspense.
During one of his late-night drives, Shekhawat runs into Rosie, a prostitute who agrees to help with his investigation. Kareena Kapoor does a great job of imbuing Rosie with both charm and world-weariness, and although you hope Shekhawat maintains his good-guy persona and doesn't cheat on his wife, you could probably understand if he slipped. Rosie's inside information leads Shekhawat deeper into Mumbai's underbelly that is teeming with violence and poverty. There are many unsavory characters who all hold some piece of the puzzle, and the suspense builds excruciatingly as Shekhawat struggles to put all the pieces together.
Talaash is impeccably filmed, capturing the film noir aesthetic and accurately portraying people from every strata of Mumbai society. The songs are expertly woven into the movie, enhancing the dark tone and offering a chance to breathe before you are plunged back into the mystery. It is a captivating thriller, well thought-out and briskly told, with elegant pacing and editing. Unfortunately, it makes one huge misstep in the form of the surprise twist at the end. The twist ties the whole movie together, and it is a disappointment because it completely alters the film's genre and crediblity. This is something Reema Kagti also did in her first film, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., which was a perfectly charming movie until something was revealed about two characters that made it impossible to take the movie seriously.
Talaash is a dynamic piece of filmmaking, and if you discount the final ten minutes, it is a flawless movie. Sadly you can't discount those ten minutes as the story's resolution depends on it. Nonetheless, I heartily recommend it, because we all know of movies we love that don't necessarily work on every level. Talaash is firing on all cylinders in terms of cinematography, plot, acting, music, and production design. Just because it features a disappointing final twist, you cannot dismiss all of the great work preceding it.
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