Aitbaar

Mukul Anand's films always had a touch of class. And this remake of Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder" is special. The plot is effortlessly Indianized, although it is difficult to imagine why any husband, however vain and philandering he may be, would want to snuff the life out of the beauteous Dimple Kapadia. She's a vision. Almost a match for Hitchcock's ice maiden, the incandescent Grace Kelly.

Cinema has never been such an effective vehicle for whodunnits. Why did a murder take place? That's something films tackle well. Not who did it. Even the original Hitchcock film was much too wordy. Anand has made game attempts to make it more visual but as a whodunnit it still doesn't work. The whole plot hinges on the key hidden underneath the staircase carpet. It's a bit too much, when the revelation eventually comes. Much ado about so little, you sigh! The other event in the film that makes you sigh is a sizzling dance done in skimpy clothes by Leena Das for Raj Babbar. Leena sizzles.

As other have pointed out, it is a remake of "Dial M for Murder" directed by the greatest of all, Alfred Hitchcock. "Dial M for Murder" is a fantastic movie and "Aitbaar" pretty much remade the movie scene by scene, dialogue by dialogue.

However ..... the characters in "Aitbaar" are m_uch more talented than the ones in "Dial M for Murder". You have to watch them both to see that. Hitchcock's movie is very well made in terms of story, dialogues and direction in general. However, the cast could have been much better. "Aitbaar" is very well made as the actors have done a great job bringing out the characters in the movie really nicely. This goes to show that our actors are very very talented and they just need good directors to bring out the best in them.

Raj Babbar takes the cake for the best actor, if you ask me. While Danny is a very close competitor, he might have lost out by an infinitesimal margin due to the fact that Danny's role is very short in the movie. No fault of his really but the few scenes Danny got, he rocked it in a way that nobody else could have. But Raj, from beginning to the end, did a fantastic job of portraying the character of Jaideep.

If you have not seen "Aitbaar", do so right away. I promise you that you will not regret it.

It is a great movie, sure to keep you on the edge of your sofa for the better part of the movie. Awesome performances by all 4 characters (Babbar, Dimple, Oberoi, Danny). Wish there were more movies like this made today.

Aitbaar released in 1985 is an Indian adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's classic dial m for murder. This is a very interesting film brilliantly directed by mukul anand. The culprit is known, how it's proved, forms the plot. Adapted into Indian set up, aitbaar has strong script and effective actors which becomes the greatest usp of the film. A dialogue by raj babbar - har janam mein insan do cheezon se peecha nahi chura paya, aur woh hein bhookh aur hatya.... And that's the concept of the whole film. Hatya... Survival.... Money.... Greed... Easy comfortable life... Strategy... These elements input life into the script. The scene of keeping the key under the carpet is an important scene of the film. Actors, music, action and other elements are convincing. Amongst actors, according to me the most convincing performance is by Raj Babbar. Hats off. A must watch.

Aitbaar is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic thriller Dial M For Murder. Sadly and quite expectedly, the original source was not acknowledged by the makers, but the film is well attuned to an Indian context and is successfully gripping. The script is taut and complex and the film is overall very well shot and directed, with good camera work and a suitably chilling score. It is definitely a different mainstream Hindi movie for its time, as it leans more on the script and has much less melodrama and sentimentality than one would expect to see. Obviously, it includes several songs, but they are mostly situationally relevant and most of them are beautiful anyway. The acting is very good by one and all, and doubtlessly the film belongs to the ever gorgeous Dimple Kapadia, who makes for a great heroine. Confused, vulnerable and innocent, her Neha is quite different from the feisty and strong characters she does best, and Kapadia is more than effective playing the part. She is completely natural, and her fear, helplessness and uncertainty are aptly displayed. That she looks stunningly beautiful only helps and goes without saying. Raj Babbar does mostly a good job as the devious and calculating husband, though he is a bit hammy in some scenes. Suresh Oberoi is solid as Sagar, while Danny Denzongpa is excellent as the investigating officer. Overall then, Aitbaar is a highly watchable suspense thriller which is worth watching and revisiting.