तलाश

The movie is weaved out of two fabrics, one of a crime-noir with many interesting and mysterious characters thrown in and the other of a drama about a couple dealing with the death of their only child.

The film introduces you to a promising plot dealing with the mysterious death of a movie star, and as the first half progresses the plot gets laden with many characters. As revelations continue to pop in the 'search' gets intense and just before the intermission the plot gets seated at a juncture beyond which the 'search' only looks more promising. But then comes the second half and the plots veers off in a different direction altogether, the intense buildup gets diluted, the story becomes sluggish as the psychological tribulations of a couple suffering from a tremendous loss take center-stage.

For those who were expecting a taut thriller the first thirty minutes or so of the second half transform the movie into a momentarily vapid experience. The complete shift of focus makes you ponder over the possible entwinement of these two fabrics but because these two fabrics were not rolled out simultaneously but in steps your interest in the mysterious story which was supposed to be the backbone of the plot begins to fade. After a while that story is picked again and as the plot borders its climax the intensity gets built up again. The climax is one which you could have expected around ten minutes before it actually happened and though it fits in the scheme of happening in the plot somewhere you feel that you have been left unsatisfied.

The problem is not with the plot or its climax, but with the weaving of the two stories in the plot, the transition from thriller to drama did not seem to be too smooth to me. Although the glimpses of the psychological quagmire in which the parents are stuck are shown in the first half but the way in which the story of the distressed husband and his closeness to a prostitute takes the centre-stage in the second half makes you doubt if the story of the dead movie star is actually that important.

Aamir as the policeman and the troubled householder, Rani as the grieving wife and Kareena as the mysterious prostitute were good in their respective roles, but the best performance of the movie, in my opinion, was by Nawazuddin Siddiqui who portrayed the character of a cripple named Tehmur. Siddiqui really blossomed in the character, he was really into it.

Overall it is a fine movie and worth at least one watch. The climax, I must say, though not entirely satisfying is at least unique. Nothing like anything you have seen recently in mainstream Bollywood.

Well, As is the case with any Amir Khan movie, this was also eagerly awaited. And to a certain extent the wait is worth. This is essentially an eccentric police officer who tries to work his way out of a traumatic personal experience.

While the personal experience is a major turn in his persona, keeping him sleepless at nights and increasing the spread between him and his wife; it comes at a time when an important case is at hand.

Who is the murder? What was the motive? All these are questions which grip you till the end and as an when the story tires to clarify itself, you find more riddles.

Till this part where the protagonist searches for the killer holds up tightly. Where lies the mystery is for one to believe and disbelieve. The proverbial mystery is where lies the search (taalash)...

Its a worth watch, but don't bank on a really logical ending. Its up to your faith to accept somethings!

The movie opens with a random accident involving a popular film star that seems to defy all explanation. It also introduces the main protagonist, Inspector Shekhawat (played gloriously by Aamir Khan). The rest of the movie details how the good inspector peels away the mystery surrounding the accident. Along the way, he also battles his own demons in the form guilt for his child's untimely death in an accident.

The movie is scripted well enough to keep you interested all the way to the end, even if the end if a tad bit tame.

Five-star performances from all the leading characters ensures that you are sucked into the mood and world that Reema Kagti creates. Nawazuddin Siddiqi gives another stellar performance to follow-up on his performance in Gangs of Wasseypur. Rani Mukherjee redeems her acting credentials after the disaster of Aiyaa. Kareena Kapoor is competent. However, it is Aamir Khan who steals the show with a highly nuanced performance which I am sure he will rate among his finest.

The music from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is very complimentary and at no time does it intrude, as it is want to do in Hindi films, into the story-telling. Instead it is very much part of the story-telling and at times even takes things forward.

The movie is another feather in the cap of Zoya Akhtar who has penned the story and screenplay along with the director Reema Kagti. The credits for the dialogs are shared between Farhan Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap.

After the mindless films that preceded it during the Diwali weekend, Talaash comes as a breath of fresh air and bears a promise that Bollywood is not all about assuming that the audience is a collection of sheep waiting to be sheared.

So keeping in mind to not disturb any one else's movie experience by giving out any spoilers ,, i would like to review this movie in short. All the AAMIR KHAN bluff of great movies is likely to get over after this one, he had a great time for last few year. Let me give points to just sum up how i felt about different aspects.

Entertainment - 4/10( A few laughs and mostly u will keep searching in your head)

Acting - 9/10 ( Especially Nawazuddin sahab)

Suspense - 8/10 (The core of the suspense was terrible but the unfolding was great.

Direction - 6/10 ( Some scenes really awesome, but some just bore u to death)

Plot- 5/10 ( The way it was hyped , "THE ANSWER LIES WITHIN",, if this was another country ,, the producers would have been sued for giving wrong info of the services the consumers paid for)

Overall- 7/10( Its a really watchable movie than the crap bollywood is producing these years,, don't go with ultra high expectations,, not memorable,and even if would be good if u don't't watch M NIGHT SHYAMALAN movies,,, ohhh and yes one point i gave extra just for Nawazuddin siddique)

Good movie. Brilliant plot and great direction. Aamir Khan, after a long wait of three years since his last blockbuster, 3 Idiots, has given another potential blockbuster. Movie is simply amazing.

Plot is the back bone of the movie. Director, Reema Kagti, has successfully tried to keep the mystery going through out the movie.

Suspense is highly underused genre in Bollywood. I can count decent Bollywood suspense movies on my fingers. My till-the-date favorite being 36 China Town, which is now replaced by Talaash. I hope this movie's success(which is going to be tremendous, but not even close to 3 Idiots), motivates other top actors and directors to exploit this genre.

Aamir Khan was very convincing as a cop. His character(Surjan Singh Sekhawat) was flawed and that's what I liked about it. Its a trend in Bollywood to make the protagonist, perfect, having no flaws at all. Ironically, Mr. Perfectionist's character in this movie was most flawed.

Even though he has been better, Aamir's acting in this movie was by no means, bad. He was good. But he's been better.

Out of Kareena and Rani, in my opinion, Rani was better. She was just perfect at what she was doing. She was living it.

Kareena, I think, yet again like Heroine, was trying too hard. She is one of the best actresses if not the best in Bollywood. So no one can say she was bad. Its just, out of three, she takes the third spot.

Biggest drawback of the movie was its music. Some scene lacked thrill because of poor background score.. Some songs were a bit dull as well.

Overall, movie was good. A MUST watch. Go for it. If not for Aamir then for a very rare Bollywood thriller.