Rahasya - A review

After a long time, I came across a murder mystery that gripped me for the better part of the movie. It was certainly helped by some superb acting performances by the starcast, especially Kay Kay Menon who plays the role of a CBI officer to perfection (notwithstanding his walnut munching mannerisms), and the taut screenplay. With a starcast comprising of some brilliant and seasoned actors like Kay Kay Menon, Tisca Chopra, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mita Vashisht, Ashwini Kalsekar, one could expect that. But the climax sort of botched up everything and the edn result became only a better version of a CID episode.

The first time that I saw the trailers of "Rahasya", I had thought it to be inspired by the Aarushi murder case because one could co-relate so many similarities - a teenager girl getting murdered who has doctor parents and the case getting handed over to the CBI. But actually this movie is no where close to that murder case, the director for some reason has steered clear of that incident.

The story is about the Mahajan family and starts with a murder - that of the teenaged daughter of Dr. Sachin Mahajan (played by Ashish Vidyarthi) who gets killed in her own house. The case is handed over to the CBI and as they try to trail the murder, they keep coming across newer and newer suspects. But even as they are busy solving the case, assuming it to be a revenge murder by a jilted lover, another murder takes place in the same house and thus their assumptions go awry. It could be someone from the family itself, so they think.

For me, the two standout performers were Kay Kay Menon and Ashish Vidyarthi, who I thought, was admirably good as Dr. Mahajan. But sadly though being such a talented actress, Tisca Chopra, I felt was disappointing as the doctor's wife, she seemed too meek.

The movie could have been a superb thriller had there been a better climax. Because the script had definitely managed to grip my attention. The screenplay too was crisp and the background music added to the charm. But the editing could have been done better because at certain points I felt the scenes ended abruptly. Though it was an average story but still with some better editing and direction, it could have been executed in a better way.

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The Next Three Days - A review

This jailbreak movie, “The Next Three Days”, is a taut thriller and is apparently inspired by a little known French movie, “Anything for Her”, that had got released in 2008. I wonder how I had never come across this movie earlier! I must thank my good friend Niraj who suggested me this movie a few days back, while I was looking for a good thriller. Well, being a Paul Haggis directed movie, one could expect some class. Didn't he give us a classic in "Crash" a few years back? The lead actor, Russell Crowe, who plays the role of the desperate husband, too puts up a really solid performance and keeps the viewers hooked.

He plays the role of John Brennan, a junior college teacher (English) in the movie and has a happy family comprising of his wife and their young son. But their life suddenly takes a serious turn when after returning home from a dinner party with friends, the next morning the police storms into their house and arrests his wife (played by Elizabeth Banks). She gets convicted of murdering her boss in a parking garage! Though she keeps pleading that she didn't kill her boss and her husband, Crowe too believes in her wife's innocence but the police have some compelling evidence - she had a terrible argument with her boss and thus she had a motive and most importantly, the blood stains that were found on her Bank's coat matches that of her boss.

John now has the responsibility of not only managing the house all by himself but also has to raise up his young son. So he continues with his teaching job but doesn't give up hopes of seeing her wife getting freed from the jail-sentence. So he keeps appealing in the higher courts against the jail sentence but fails each time. At last even their attorney gives up. But determined to bring his wife out of the jail, he plans to break her out of it where she is held. He even gets ready to sell off his belongings so that he could arrange enough money to buy things that he would need for the jail-break mission. The internet helps him in plotting about the jail-escape plan. He keeps searching through the net for valuable tricks, he even meets a former convict (Liam Neeson) and solicits advice from him because he had broken out of a lot of prisons. John doesn't even hesitate to contact the drug dealers to obtain a gun. Meanwhile with each passing day spent in the jail, his wife, Elizabeth Banks, begins to despair and almost gives up all hopes that she would ever come out of the jail or her husband would ever be able to make her a free person. Thus she remains in depression. But her husband eventually succeeds in carrying out the jail escape plan and together with his wife and their kid, they manage to fly away out of the country. Speaking of performances, Russell Crowe with his terrific acting, kept me involved in the story all throughout. Elizabeth Banks too played her part quite convincingly, but she had not much of a role actually. Direction too is top-class, though the movie, I felt, could have been shortened up a bit in length.

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