Ittefaq – A sleek murder mystery



An accomplished writer who has travelled from London to Mumbai for his third book launch finds himself as the prime suspect in two murders: That of his wife, who is also the CEO of the publishing house that has brought out his recent book, and a city-based lawyer. Sidharth Malhotra is being chased by the cops on a dreary night on Marine Drive when his car topples and gives him an opportunity to escape. He ends up at Sonakshi Sinha’s house where her lawyer-husband is also murdered. The first 10-15 minutes of Ittefaq build up enough intrigue and set the tone for an engrossing murder mystery, the pace of which does not slacken even for a bit till the end. 

Sidharth and Sonakshi offer conflicting versions of the events that unfolded that night to investigating officer Akshaye Khanna, who has only three days to solve the case. The depiction of what could have actually transpired prior to the murders keeps the viewer glued to the screen and involved in the case even as Khanna goes all out to unravel the truth. His interrogation of the two suspects is the highlight of the film though one wishes there was more of a two-way communication and cross-examination rather than the suspects just trying to prove their innocence.  

There are sub-plots that add to the drama in the thriller. Besides, the milieu of the crime scenes, a rain-soaked Mumbai and the police station give an authentic feel to the movie. The twists and turns happen at a brisk pace, giving a sense of urgency to the investigation, and move the story forward. And there are no songs to hamper the narrative. Ittefaq is a sleek and compact tale of whodunit with no compromises on the production quality. And just when you assume that the case has been solved, emerges another angle, leaving you confused. That’s the beauty of Ittefaq; you are guessing till the end.  

Akshaye Khanna lifts Ittefaq with a superb performance. His understated style and conviction as a no-nonsense police officer, along with his body language, add depth to what could have been some ordinary scenes. Sidharth Malhotra is intense, brooding and vulnerable at the same time. His character has several layers and he effortlessly showcases every emotion to make them look convincing. This wasn’t an easy role to play, but he’s shown a great deal of competence as an actor. He deserves credit for choosing diverse roles with each film and taking on a new challenge even as some of his contemporaries are stuck doing the same thing. Sonakshi’s character is the weakest of the three main protagonists. It could have been fleshed out better and that would have probably given her a greater opportunity to bring something additional to the screen. There’s hardly anything else that one can complain about.   

Murder mysteries or suspense thrillers are not as frequently made in Bollywood as they ought to be. Among those, very few are those that pass the test in all departments. Ittefaq is one of them. 

 - Kunal Purandare 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sanju - A one-dimensional PR stunt

Image
Newspaper articles can be written with an angle. Books can take sides. And movies can be made with a slant. Sanju clearly has one: That everyone else, but the actor is responsible for his misdeeds. What the film tells us is that his drug addiction was because of the wrong company that he kept, keeping an AK-47 rifle (given to him by terrorist Abu Salem) in his car was to protect his family which was being threatened (although his father continued to do community work in the open) and his jail term and subsequent vilification was because of a vicious media trial.  There’s nothing wrong in making a movie trying to clean up the image of one of Indian cinema’s controversial personalities. But it has to be done with adequate depth and conviction. Rajkumar Hirani – believed to be one of the finest filmmakers of our times – falls woefully short on these fronts. And by using clichéd lines like ‘ kuch toh log kahenge ’ to refer to the adverse public opinion about the actor, he dil...
Read more

Hichki - Let's do the cha cha cha for Rani

Image
Rani Mukerji prefers to be a part-time animator till the time she gets a job as a school teacher. That, however, is an uphill task given the fact that she suffers from Tourette syndrome – a neurological condition which results in her making some peculiar sounds like cha cha cha , often in the middle of completing a sentence. Her application has been rejected by several institutes and her father, too, is unsympathetic to her disorder. A reputed school in which she had studied offers her a post mid-term because no teacher is able to handle the class that she has been assigned to look after. The Right to Education Act compels the school to enrol students from the lower strata of society for whom the institute is more a place for recreation than to study. Rani latches on to the opportunity with the belief that she can be the torchbearer of change. A rival professor, played by Neeraj Kabi, has no hopes whatsoever and challenges Rani to prove him wrong. Unsurprisingly, it’s ba...
Read more

Bareilly Ki Barfi: Fails to leave an aftertaste

Image
At the end of Bareilly Ki Barfi , you are neither amused nor surprised. Rather you wonder what the movie was all about. It's a film without an underlying theme and with a thin plot.  Kriti Sanon represents everything that a girl shouldn't be in Bareilly, someone who smokes, drinks, stays out till late and is brash and outspoken. Her engagement has been called off twice and her mother cannot wait to see her married. No boy, however, seems to accept her for the way she is. Irritated with such pressure and being judged constantly, she tries to run away and buys a novel at the railway station.  Incidentally, it has passages that exactly depict the person that she is. Impressed that someone can see her as being normal, she tries to find its writer. The hunt takes her to the book's publisher, Ayushmann Khurrana, who has actually written the book, inspired by his girlfriend, after a heartbreak. However, he does not want his name to be associated with it and therefore u...
Read more