TALAASH Review

TALAASH Reliance Entertainment, Aamir Khan Productions and Excel Entertainment’s Talaash (UA) is a suspense drama. Film star Armaan Kapoor (Vivan Bathena) is killed in a freak road accident at the same spot where several others have died, all in inexplicable circumstances. While the earlier cases have been closed as ‘A- Final’ due to lack of headway in them, police inspector Surjan Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) is unwilling to close this case also as ‘A-Final’. Even as Shekhawat is fighting his own guilt for what he thinks was his carelessness which led to his only son, Karan’s (master Jitesh) death by accident, he gets headlong into investigating the accident case. This keeps him away from home and, therefore, from his wife, Roshni (Rani Mukerji), too, for long hours. Even otherwise, their happy married life has been shattered after the death of their little son as Surjan is simply never in a mood to spend quality time with Roshni be­cause of the guilt. Rosy (Kareena Kapoor), a call girl, comes as the most unlikely link in the chain which may ultimately help Shekhawat solve the Armaan Kapoor accident case. Rosy speaks to Surjan Shekhawat about Shashi (Subrat Dutta), his girlfriend, Mallika (Aditi Vasudev) and Temur (Nawazuddin Sid­diqui) among others. While Shashi dies as soon as the investigation begins, Temur dies even as the investigation is on. This way, two important people, who could’ve helped Shekhawat solve the case, are no more. Rosy also speaks about Armaan Kapoor and his two friends, Sanjay Kejriwal (Suhas Ahuja) and Nikhil (Prashant Prakash). One day while she is with Surjan, Rosy also talks ruefully about the death of her friend who belonged to the same profession as hers. Who was the friend of Rosy whose death she lamented about in front of Shekhawat? How were Shashi, Temur, Sanjay Kejriwal and Nikhil connected with the accident case? Or were they at all connected? There’s also a track of Roshni Shekhawat trying to speak to her dead son, Karan, through the med­ium of Freny (Shernaz Patel). Surjan fires Roshni for believing in the concept of talking to spirits. Is Surjan right or is Roshni correct? Why is Rosy bent upon helping Surjan? Does Surjan solve the accident case? Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s story is quite unusual and their screenplay has many layers. The script has been written in a way that it involves the viewer in a guessing game and keeps his interest alive throughout. No doubt, the pace slackens a bit and the drama seems to be meandering at places but it comes on track before much harm is done. Also, some of the twists and turns are so shocking that the audience is left dumbfounded. The twist of another police van meeting with an accident at the same spot as Armaan Kapoor’s car is so scary that the weak-hearted will scream in fear. The entire sequence of little Karan’s accident is breathtakingly frightening. The sequence showing how Karan’s accident could have been avoided is brilliant and shakes the viewer. Ditto for the scene in which a grievously injured Rosy alias Simran is deserted by Armaan Kapoor and Sanjay Kejriwal. The scene of Surjan and Roshni’s fight right in the middle of the road and in front of Surjan’s subordinate, Devrath (Rajkumar Yadav), is also wonderful. The climax sequence is emotionally brilliant. On the minus side, at least for the orthodox audience, is the fact that Surjan fails to do much to alleviate wife Roshni’s depression after their son’s demise. Instead of spending more time with her and thinking in terms of having another child to help her (and himself) get over the shock, he avoids her. No doubt, he insists on her visiting the psychiatrist regularly but he doesn’t think in terms of being her emotional anchor, which seems weird from the point of view of the traditional audience. This anomaly is even more pronounced because he blames him­self for the death and never his wife! Dialogues, penned by Farhan Akh­ tar (additional dialogues by Anurag Kashyap), are lovely. Aamir Khan lives the role of Surjan Shekhawat – a father reeling under guilt and a police officer who is exceptionally good in his work. He excels with a performance which will become a talking point among the audience. His acting is so extraordinary that one actually feels his pain at the loss of his young son. The way he uses his body language is outstanding. His last scene shakes the viewer. Rani Mukerji plays Roshni with a rare understanding, never once going overboard. She very intelligently underplays in a good part of the film because of which her outburst in her fight with husband Surjan has a superb impact. Kareena Kapoor is mind-blowingly excellent. Her look, her loud costumes, her dialogue deli­very and her body language, all go to add to her character. She makes Rosy so endearing that the audience actually ends up falling in love with a call girl. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is first-rate and shines as Temur. Rajkumar Yadav is a fine actor and he underlines this fact even in scenes in which he has minimal dialogues. Shernaz Patel leaves a wonderful impression. Suhas Ahuja is suitably restrained as Sanjay Kejriwal. Subrat Dutta is very natural as Shashi. Prashant Prakash is good in the role of Nikhil. Vivan Bathena (as Armaan Kapoor) makes his presence felt. Vivek Madan stands his own in the role of Surjan Shekhawat’s senior. Aditi Vasudev is lovely as Shashi’s girlfriend, Mallika. Master Jitesh is cute, as Karan. Master Vishesh, as Samar, is good. Shivani Tanksale (as Roshni’s friend) and Sheeba Chadha (as Nirmala) lend admirable support. Gulfam (as Madame) and the rest provide able support. Reema Kagti’s direction is lovely. Not only has she handled the very difficult subject with a rare maturity but has also extracted great work from her actors, big and small. In a suspense film, the revelation of the suspense and its shock value are very significant aspects, and Reema has ensured that the suspense emerges as a very important part of the narrative when revealed. Having said this, it must be added that the film remains more a class-appealing fare than a mass-appealing one. Ram Sampath’s music has a different feel like the film itself. Every song has its own beauty even though the songs are very class-appealing. The rendition of each song is also delightful. Lyrics (Javed Akhtar) are very appropriate. Sampath’s background music is excellent. Ku. Mohanan’s camerawork is superb. Sets (Sharmishtha Roy) are nice. Visual effects are very good. Anand Subaya’s editing is sharp. On the whole, Talaash has a novel suspense angle and is an engaging and entertaining drama with a good emotional undercurrent. It will, therefore, be liked by the public and emerge a paying proposal at the box-office. Business in the big cities and good multiplexes and single-screen cinemas will be good but the film won’t find many takers in small centres, ordinary multiplexes and ordinary single-screen cinemas.