The first day first show collections of Talaash in Nashik are as follows:
Divya – 10,695 out of 18,306
City Centre – 11,197 out of 16,278
Cinemax – 13,779 out of 21,493
Fame – 14,711 out of 19,858
Regimentle – 5,455 out of 15,261
Damodar – 9,523 out of 23,559
Anuradha – 2,866 out of 24,000
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IndiaToday Review : 3.5 / 5 Stars
IMDB Rating : 7.7 /10 Stars
TALAASH – Only a fine one time watch with a not so impressive conclusion. (Review by Bobby Sing)
‘Murder mystery’ is a genre which has seen the least hits in Hindi Film Industry till date. But when a bankable veteran such as Aamir Khan, decides to feature in a movie based on a mysterious plot around a series of murders, then one is bound to expect something extraordinary from the project without any doubt. So I was all game to see this thankfully ‘out of the routine’ film and further got more excited reading some big names in its opening credits such as Javed Akhtar (Lyrics), Zoya Akhtar(Writer), Farhan Akhtar (Dialogues) and Anurag Kashyap (Additional Dialgoues).
But sadly after watching it, I didn’t feel like being served well as the movie lacked the expected fireworks in its less impressive conclusion which should have been the highlight of the film representing this particular genre. Nevertheless, since the review of such ‘Mystery movies’ should ideally not reveal any of the story developments in its script, so here I would like to restrict myself to a certain level and would only be sharing how I felt watching the film in its two halves.
As it begins TALAASH successfully manages to grab your attention from its well shot opening credits only and the viewer is all set to watch an engrossing crime thriller featuring the perfectionist. Very casually and calmly directed Reema Kagti, introduces all her characters on the screen and then the investigations begin within the first 15 minutes of the film itself. As the scripts starts unfolding its various chapters, TALAASH starts gripping the viewer and one finds himself becoming interested in its each new proceedings quite easily. So, despite of an avoidable song, the first half largely proves to be a winner giving you the taste of a fine mystery drama with many realistic performances directed well by Reema Kagti.
Post intermission, the problems begin with its slow narration mainly due to the elaborate depiction of the emotional plot added in the script related with Aamir and his family. The pace drops for a considerable period of time (including another deliberate song) and then it all goes down to the last half an hour of the film where the viewers await the big shock coming their way to amaze them. But unfortunately after some good chase sequences, when the finale is there, TALAASH fails to deliver and doesn’t make any solid impact on the viewers with its loose and unimpressive conclusion.Hence against all promises made in its subtle promotion, TALAASH is not an edge of the seat, nail biting mysterious thriller as KAHAANI. It devotes too much time to its sub-plots introduced in the script and thus loses the focus on its main storyline revolving around a strange accident. In fact that was the reason why KAHAANI became an instant success at the box office due to its extremely focused direction without any avoidable insertions hampering the overall impact of the film. Now though comparatively Reema too keeps you guessing in TALAASH giving some vague hints about the killer at various intervals. But still when the actual secret gets unfold on the screen, it is not able to amaze you hugely, which should have been the major turning point of the film as per its theme.
Talking about performances, Aamir is fine as the tough inspector, but he also looks like trying too hard in few sequences. The perfectionist proves himself again in the emotional scenes of the climax when he begins to accept that there is a lot more in this world which cannot be seen but only felt. Yet I strongly felt as if Aamir was not there in the film completely. Rani Mukherjee is brilliant in her glamour-less mother act and Kareena is going to shock many in her bold & shocking avatar as the hooker. In the supporting cast, Nawazuddin Siddiqui gets the maximum marks along with Shernaz Patel but Raj Kumar Yadav remains wasted in a meaningless role of the assistant inspector.
Visually, TALAASH takes you into the dark world of Mumbai with a great art direction and cinematography. And the two actually contribute a lot in the basic structure of the film. As usual the songs (Ram Sampath) work as an obstacle in its otherwise tense proceedings and without them it surely could have been a much crispier product as it seems. However the background score adds to the spirit of the movie as per the requirements.
To sum it all, if you look upon the film as a solo Aamir Khan project coming after the gap of 3 years, then it more or less fails to give you the desired results. But taking it as a Reema Kagti film made on an interesting script, it is still a one- time watch venture which might be liked by many.
Having said that, I would like to share my own viewpoint about “Great Murder Mysteries” here, which might have certain revealing spoilers about the film too.
So please read further only after watching the film or if you are ok with dealing with Spoilers.
So please read further only after watching the film or if you are ok with dealing with Spoilers.
As per my opinion, a great murder mystery is the one which unfolds all the cards in front of you and then the viewers are free to guess the culprit out of them. In other words if there are 10 characters on the screen then the murderer has to be one out of them which keeps the guess work going and the fun intact. But in case the writer or director suddenly brings in an 11th character in the last 10 minutes of the story and declares him the main culprit then honestly the whole charm of the mystery is lost because there is no way anyone can guess that 11th person as the main culprit. Plus all that fun of guessing the 1 out of those 10, seems to be a time-waste and funny all together.
And that’s exactly what spoils the game in TALAASH too when all of a sudden, writer-director Reema Kagti plays the supernatural card in the end and puts all the blame of those strange murders on the spirit itself. Now where for few it might be fine but for an avid lover of “Whodunit” and “Intelligent Murder Mysteries” it comes out to be as hugely disappointing.
To be straight, had it not been an Aamir Khan film, many would have rated it as a fine interesting attempt but nothing more than that.
