Murder in the Hills

I think after Tashe Ghawr I saw something good in HoiChoi. The the story is loosely based on Agatha Christie's Murder on orient express and very predictable from the beginning. The two things I liked about the Series is the Cinematography and the Character Development. I liked few actors but most of them was just over dramatic and over acted.

Eagerly waiting for Anjan Dutt's first web series. I always liked his direction. The place chosen for the mystery drama was perfect. The use of natural lighting was very clever. The casts could be bit better. Music and cinematograpghy was very good. Worth watching.

In fact, I was annoyed when I watched the episodes of this series. Because the story here has just been extended. As a result, the number of episodes has also increased. The ending was not good. The thrilling feeling was not found.

The majority of Bengali thrillers made in West Bengal except Feluda & Byomkesh are quite bland and predictable. The murderer gets revealed in the beginning; with either with the face kept out of focus or not shown but all focus being on the murderer's tattoo or some kind of mannerism or the murder weapon even murderer's birthmark, the whole investigation only circles around finding out that. The motive of any character gets cleared out so early that the only person scratching his/her head till climax is the investigator in the movie/series. By that time, the audience gets busy texting, internet surfing or even kissing in the corner seat of the last row. So it was quite clear to me that whatever we can produce, the thriller is not our cup of tea. Even more tragic in the case of the Bengali OTT platforms is when someone gets lured by the trailer. The editor was good so was the trailer but that doesn't do anything to work out a weak screenplay.

This one, I mean, Murder in the Hills, after decades, made me watch till the end of the last episode because even if a Feluda-trained mind could find some scattered patterns and identify some probable murderers, here the plot remains unclear till the climax. And that's very unlikely of any Bengali thriller made out of an original storyline and screenplay, as I can't remember any such in quite a long time. Though the concept is a bit old-styled that is already said at the beginning of the series: "Revenge is the best dish better served cold". The only thing which took out some marks from the screenplay is two very coincidental discoveries though those didn't prove to be that crucial as they didn't spoil the mystery and climax in any way. So, in all respect, we have finally got a Bengali thriller made in West Bengal after quite a long time. And Darjeeling comes as the bonus; neither through unnecessary jump-cuts of Mall, Glenary's, Revolver, Toy train, tea-gardens, spiraling roads nor through long shots of Kanchanjungha; but its people. That's a joy to watch. In nutshell, it is a commendable job done.

Tony (Anjan Dutt), a yesteryear filmstar, is celebrating his 66th birthday in his trademark style, booze, good food and a handpicked list of invitees, all if whom he knows and has been interacting with. There police top brass, a doctor (his young lover too), a sports teacher who runs a local orphanage, a socialite and media influencer, a filmmaker and an author (who is also his close friend. The venue is his family bungalow in Darjeeling where he has lived all his life. He allows one additional person he doesn't know, a newspaper reporter Amitava (Arjun Chakraborty), as he has been invited by the socialite Sheela (Anindita Bose). The party is in full swing when Tony suffers a heart attack and breathes his last.

Whilst everyone else is convinced that it was a natural death, and quite convinced because of Tony's Bohemian lifestyle and reputation, Amitava smells something fishy and has reasons to believe that there's foul play involved, also looking for a scoop for his newspaper to cover a celebrity death. The more he starts digging, the more clues he starts gathering that reinforce his belief that it was a murder. But who among the guests could it have been, as everyone knew Tony well, loved him and what could be the motive?

"Murder in the Hills" is a stylish, well executed, sleek and suspenseful crime drama with fantastic cinematography, an excellent backdrop of the hill city Darjeeling and some great music by Neel Dutt. Although the drama gets a bit repetitive and slack at times over the 8 episodes, and you often wonder why the protagonist Amitava is finding clues as if they were planted there for him, most of your questions are answered in the climax and it makes for an exciting finish. It's a little over the top and some of the characters like Neema (Sandipta Sen) tend to get on the nerves with a strange English accent and loud expressions, the murder mystery makes for a good, back to back watch.