Murder

This is one of Bollywoods better productions filmed interiors in Bombay and exteriors in Thailand.

The film was done by a new Bollywood director hat despite health challenges he overcame, he has made another great film, Gangster.

The film is a Hindi copy of Unfaithful but is really redone to appeal to Indian sensibilities. But I found that it appeals to everyone with its great sense of music and style.

I really enjoyed the lounge song performed by Kashmera Shah.

In today's Bollywood most item songs are getting sleazy. This one is classy and shows this girl is not only beautiful but can also act the dance not just dance and lip sync. I can't wait to see her next film!

Overall great film, highly recommended for first time Bollywood fan. music is fantastic! Go Kashmira!

Based on the concept of extra-marital relationship, Murder, the latest venture by Bhatts oozes out starring sex goddess Mallika Shrewat, Imran Hashmi and Ashmit Patel in leading roles. Inspired by a Hollywood flick "Unfaithful", Murder has complete ingredients to suite the requirements of the cinegoers who come to cinema halls for the purpose of entertainment and quality stuff only. The movie features plenty of skin-show, sex scenes and has an impressive storyline. It gives full value to the money spent on purchasing tickets.

Settled in Bangkok, Sudhir (Ashmit Patel), his wife Simron (Mallika Shrewat) and their son Kabir live peacefully and happily in foreign land. Being occupied with his job for making a prosperous future for the family, Sudhir forgets that his wife needs him physically and mentally. Simron starts feeling her loneliness badly. She also does a job to kill the time. A twist in the tale occurs, when one rainy day she happens to meet her ex-lover Sunny (Imran Hashmi) on a crowded road under heavy showers of rain. Both had been in love before Simron's marriage with Sudhir. This meeting leads the two to that stage where they can have pleasures but those pleasures can harm Simron's married life eventually. Forgetting all the consequences, the lovers' loneliness ties them in an affair. Sudhir begins to sense that something strange is happening with his wife. He hires the services of a detective who then provides Sudhir solid proofs of her wife's affair with a guy. The infidelity of Simron shakes him badly. This reality helps his feet go straight to Sunny's home where he confronts Sunny. This meeting thus makes room for destruction in married couple's life.

Director Anurag Basu gets the audience glued to the seats till the finale with his creative sense of film-making. At interval point, the viewers imagine that the story now reaches at the end, Anurag takes the viewers to the second half. When climax comes, the director takes the interest level of the audience to the highest point with the catchy sequence of events. Although the first half is slow but the film gathers momentum in the second half. And one thing is for sure, the viewers do not take their eyes off the screen even for a minute. The movie completely grabs your attention.

"Murder" is an immaculate effort by the director. Well-written script is impressive but the writer seems to be in hurry at one place when he shows Sunny's girlfriend all of a sudden. Anu Malik's music is soothing. "Kaho Na Kao" and "Bheegay Hont Tere" are more enjoyable and effective on ears amongst others in the list. Cinematography is gorgeous. Brilliantly caught urban life and eye-catching locales of Bangkok capture the breath. Dialogues seem average. Ashmit Patel proves his mettle fully. Although his acting skills went unnoticed in his debut film "Inteha" but this time he wins praises with his attractive expressions in "Murder". Imran Hashmi is simply superb. He is a true fit in this character. Mallika defeats the label of being merely the sex symbol by delivering her emotional performance. Her dealing with the sex scenes boldly also adds spices to the film's graph. Raj Zutshi is adequate as well. On the whole, "Murder" is rich in entertaining the audience and that's what they want in return of their money.

Okay, I don't know what's the big deal about a film which revolves around the story of an unfaithful wife. I do understand that a film with so many kissing scenes is not something Hindi filmgoers are used to, but it's hardly the erotic film some called it although there are some erotic scenes. In its defense, the film is shot pretty aesthetically and generally it's a very good technical work. Of course, like many Mahesh Bhatt-produced films which just seek to create buzz to attract more viewers, the use of love scenes in this one is similarly made for purely sensationalist reasons rather than art, but it works and makes it refreshingly enjoyable so why not use it.

The film has been described as a remake of Unfaithful, but I see more similarity with the 1962 classic Gumrah, which has been remade into several, lesser good remakes such as Bewafa in 2005. Anyhow, the film is really enjoyable - as a thriller, as a story, and basically as entertainment. The highly attractive leading lady Mallika Sherawat became quite an unusual star and sex symbol following this film, and it's easy to see why because she really is sizzling here. The film has nice music by Anu Malik, and the film develops pretty well, and by the end it even accumulates enough substance to conclude on a predictable note basically. Nothing great but quite a fun watch.

Another adult thriller successfully wins over the masses. Mallika's loneliness was very well depicted with the story taking place in a foreign land with no friends and people who speak an incomprehensible language. Malika's dialogue of how a married woman's loneliness is a hundred times worse than a single lady's loneliness, of how she slept with a stranger (her husband) every night, really struck a chord. Ashmit Patel didn't have much of a role but did a good job in whatever he did do. Mallika's romantic interest wasn't that impressive. Songs are outstanding! "Bheege Hont" is a mesmerizing romantic track, and "Kaho Na Kaho" is a captivating track that is definitely my new favorite song. Groovy beats, melodic rhythm, good intertwining of Arabic language, and an overall haunting melody make this song addictive. The story mainly picks up in the second half and is quite unpredictable. Mallika may be the new sex symbol, but she is definitely not a quality actress. Her dialogue delivery in the movie was absolutely pathetic as were her acting skills.

I liked this movie cause it was a refreshing change away from the usual nonsensical dribble Indian movies are famous for.

Unfortunately, the concept of originality seems foreign to Bollywood, as this movie is an almost complete ripoff of the 2002 movie "Unfaithful", starring Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and Olivier Martinez...with a few new twists here and there.

Still, I gave it a high score cause it was fun to watch and good for an Indian film...plus we weren't drowned with inane dialogue and senseless song and dance routines every ten minutes.

7/10.