The Xpose

The perfect whodunit is one which has you biting your nails in anticipation and trying to figure who the culprit is and all the while trying to spot the red herrings and being fooled by the author (in case of a book) into suspecting the wrong guy or gal. XPOSE looks like it has been written by someone (Himesh Reshmaiya to be precise) who thinks of a premise and then does not know how to end it and like a kindergarten kid with his mouth full of cookies trying putting the blame on some one in the last minute-Like the butler did it.

The good thing going for this movie is the 60's campy style and music of the bygone era and the larger than life personalities that stars had which made them believe that they were gods and goddesses.

The movie starts with a caption claiming that the incidents shown are based on facts,and this is where we start guessing who's who.

The movie focuses on a the rise of two starlets Zara (Sonali Raut) clearly inspired by Zeenath Aman and Chandini (Zoya Afroz), based on Parveen Babi –though neither of them belonged to the 60's. Zara has no qualms of reaching the top, she is prepared to sleep her way to the top and Chandini is miss goody shoes who prefers to remain a virgin and spites quite a few makers.

Both the girls land in two controversial films, Zara is offered UJWAL NIRMAL SHEETAL (only a blind man can miss the obvious reference to Satyam Shivam Sundaram) which also marks the Hindi debut of South Super Star Ravi Kumar (Himesh Reshmaiya) a character based on Rajinikanth (again not a 60;s star) but reminds you mostly of Rajkumar and Sunil Dutt. Chandini decides to expose to spite her boyfriend and stars in a movie titled "REENA MERA NAAM" (could be Chetna which starred Rehana Sultana).

Both movies release on the same day, UNS flops and RMN becomes a hit, but Zara bags the filmfare award for UNS and she is promptly thrown off a roof of hotel to her death on the same night.

Chandini and Zara have a cat fight over Ravi kumar on the same day and Chandini's boyfriend becomes an obvious suspect and is nailed.

Ravi Kumar who is obviously in love with Chandini decides to save his beloved's love and unravels the mystery before a dumb judge interrupting the court proceedings.

Himesh Reshmaiya is outstanding (I thought I never would be able to say this) as Ravi Kumar, his mannerisms and dialogues are to a T. He pokes fun at himself in a matter of fact way and elevates the thick headed character and half way through the film we can actually see who the character is based on.

Zoya Afroz has those innocent bubbly looks of Poonam Dhillion (and her acting skills as well) looks good in the bikini act, and that's where we can stop the praise.

The scene stealer is Sonali Raut in her see through Sari and venom spitting performance as Zoya. She plays the bad act well and is the only one with the best lines apart from Himesh Reshmaiya.

Yo Yo Honey Singh has very little to do as a Music Director KD (obviously referencing RD Burman), but does have resembling character traits of Kishore Kumar too, He sleepwalks through the film. What the hell was Irrfan Khan doing in this? Don't ask, possibly even he does'nt know the answer.

Music by Himesh Reshamaya is good-fitting the 60's like a glove, but the ice cream song seems to have been heavily borrowed from Micheal Jackson's Bad. Overlook that fact and you have a movie with good foot tapping music.

Screenplay is tight but fades out towards the end, but Ananth Mahadevan's direction ensures that there is not a single dull moment in the film, though you are disappointed by the way the movie ends, you thank your stars that at least it did not bore you to death.

Go for it if you love 60's style foot tappers and have nothing else to do.

THE XPOSE begins exactly like a 60's film with a song in the titles and then a voice-over introducing the cast cast with some interesting one liners. Next it straight takes you on to a revival journey into the Golden Era, revealing few dark secrets of the industry pointing towards some known names and therefore fails to give you anything in the name of a murder mystery till intermission.

The film returns back to its actual theme in the second half dealing with the various suspects, but here too we have another detailed reference of a major 70s hit which flopped initially. The narration manages to keep you engaged in its final 20 minutes when the pace picks up and the revelations are made. But again a very weird & hilarious way to point out the murderer (by simply staring at them) ruins the minimal impact generated quite cruelly. The director tries to justify its basic genre forcefully, with another twist in the end. Yet the film simply cannot be rated as any highly focused, intelligent crime mystery, all together.

An intense crime drama all depends upon how the director conceives his individual characters and their mutual relationships on the screen skillfully. However that's exactly where THE XPOSE falters badly since the script fails to justify any particular character, their various affairs, allegations and the hidden jealousy arising from the flops or hits. The culmination sequences start happening too easily without any major explanations provided, taking away all the charm. Further the well promoted but surprisingly small appearances of stars like Yo Yo Honey Singh and Irrfan Khan turn out to be mere 'publicity cheats' played by the makers to bring in some added footfall. In its technical department, the background score successfully manages to keep the spirit alive and the DOP effectively gives a glossy look to the film as required.

Musically, once again Himesh has more than one melodious track with some fine lyrics in it like "Sheeshe Ka Samunder" & "Dard Dilon Ke Kam Ho Jaatey". Honey Singh shines in his part of the song in "Hai Apna Dil To Awaara" and here I would certainly like to compliment Himesh for his catchy, selective and minimal arrangements which really sound quite soothing, away from all the overstuffed noise served as music.

However in the performance section, Himesh looks too arrogant and stiff playing it over confidently. Yo Yo is there for only a few sequences but handles them well carrying his own carefree persona as it is. Irrfan Khan plays a cameo of just two scenes and the leading ladies, Zoya Afroz & Sonali Raut strongly display their confidence in some good skin show. Ananth Narayan Mahadevan (the director) is fine playing the director in the film too. Nakul Vaid, Ashin Dhir play it well, whereas Adil Hussain, Rajesh Sharma & Jessy Randhawaremain wasted.

In short THE XPOSE performs pretty badly as a murder mystery and can appeal only to the viewers who can easily relate with all the realistic events of the decades before the 90s as given below.

1. Himesh plays the famous actors RAAJ KUMAR, who was in reality a police office before joining the films, as shown in THE XPOSE too.

2. It has a scene between Himesh & Nakul, which reportedly took place between Rajkumar & Govinda in probably JUNG BAAZ released in 1989.

3. Sunil Dutt actually saved Nargis from the fire at a set and the instance is incorporated in a similar sequence here in THE XPOSE.

4. One can see Parveen Babi emerging from the sea line, like the Bond Girl, played by Zoya Afroz in the film.

5. You can easily recall Zeenat Aman in a transparent white saree, praying in a temple in Raj Kapoor's SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM (1978), played by Sonali Raut in the film.

6. It depicts the era when there were no personal vanity vans for the artists to vanish into. And everyone had to sit in the open under the big umbrellas surrounded by their personal staff.

7. The time period when the main magazine was FILMFARE and the whole gossip trend was started by STARDUST in the 70s (with a famous woman editor).

8. A sequence relives the scenario when the competitors used to buy tickets in advance only to sell them at a lower price through the black marketers, as a clever strategy to sabotage a potential film of the opponent released on the same day.

9. The era of long cars, the Impalas.

10. Two fictitious titles used in the film are 'Ujwal Nirmal Sheetal' and 'Reena Mera Naam' hinting towards SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM & JOHNY MERA NAAM clearly.

11. A detailed sequence in the second half, indicates towards the death of Meena Kumari just after the release of PAKEEZAH turning it into a late HIT. The makers here show that the director of the film records a fake message in the voice of his dead heroine by a dubbing artist and uses that message to bring back the audiences in the theaters. However whether this was actually done or not, cannot be said.

12. Irrfan Khan in his special appearance plays Alec D'Costa, a black marketer showcasing the truth that in those times, selling tickets in black was such a huge business that people used to make big houses out of it. Plus it was these "Blackiyas" only who were used by one producer against the other for sabotaging a particular film.

Now reading the above references, you can sure enjoy the film more, recalling each and every incident as they come on the screen. But in case you are just interested in watching a thrilling murder mystery using your grey cells, then watch Vidhu Vinod Chopra's KHAMOSH (1985) instead. Because in THE XPOSE it seems the makers were more interested in the controversies than the murder mystery.

'The Xpose', a musical-thriller, isn't without merit, but unfortunately, there isn't much of it either. Its works, but only in parts. It has a few absorbing moments & melodious moments working on its side, but an erratic Screenplay, spoils the fun, in totality.

'The Xpose' Synopsis: A top actress from the late 1960's is killed & now follows the search to find her murderer.

'The Xpose' takes us back in time, the late 60's, where glamour & ambitious, like decade, was at its peak. So in terms of nostalgia, 'The Xpose' is good-looking. But, the Screenplay is erratic & shaky. The film begins well & the narrative is nicely handled up-to interval. Its the second-hour, that disheartens. The suspense element lacks the fizz & so does the murderer's motives. In short, the film takes off safely, but loses focus later-on.

Anant Mahadevan's Direction is strictly okay. Cinematography & Editing are impressive. Art Design is excellent. The re-creation of the late 60's has been put-up, wonderfully. Music by Himesh Reshammiya is melodious.

Performance-Wise: Himesh Reshammiya is alright. Although he has shed a lot of weight & has worked on himself, he can still work on his acting skills. Yo Yo Honey Singh, cast in a negative role, has his moments. Zoya Afroz looks gorgeous & delivers a very confident performance. Sonali Raut has also done well. Anant Mahadevan is stiff. Rajesh Sharma is superb, as always. Irrfan Khan appears in a tiny cameo.

On the whole, 'The Xpose' holds limited appeal.

I know the movie doesn't deserve one star out of 10. But that is the least I can give. 'Awful', the only word that can describe this movie. I don't know what glamour was the director trying to pull off. The movie was just an instrument for Himesh Reshamiyya to propound his songs. Yeah, and the songs too! I don't know why people loved the songs. They were just remakes of the previous super hit songs. I should have watched the election results today which were undoubtedly much more interesting than this crap movie. But my friends dragged me to watch it. And now they are regretting too. Speaking of acting, actor is good at his place and singer is best at his place. Himesh should never think of becoming an actor. He is not at all a star material.

Yes, I did go to watch a Himesh Reshammiya movie for the first time in my life. And the movie fulfilled all I wanted out of it, fultoo fun and jibe moments through over-the-top performances by most actors (Himesh leading the pack all the way!)

Also, the movie does surprise with some twists. When you think it's all over, it reveals some more layers over layers. Finding the 'real' killer isn't that easy after all. The plot is Agatha Christi-c, the premises 60's ka Bollywood. Ananth Mahadevan (director) succeeds in presenting this murder-mystery on-screen upto an extent.

Its out an out HR movie who reminds you of actor Late Raj Kumar as superstar Ravi Kumar with similar attitude, arrogance, self-obsession (talking of himself in third person). All this exudes oodles of unintended humour. His dhaansu dialogues (some of which make no sense) can send intellectuals to coma but those searching fun will have a gala time. His overcoats and jackets (esp the red one) can't be ignored (ROFL). Characters of Sonali Raut and Zoya Afroz are drawn as parallels to Zeenat Aman and Late Parveen Babi. So beaucoup de skin show (justifying film's title). Honey Singh also doesn't act but even then his mannerisms too invoke smiles! Contrastingly, ace actors like Irrfan, Rajesh Sharma and Adil Hussain do justice with their brief roles. Music (both songs and background) is quite peppy and catchy and some songs are quite melodious. Full marks to Himesh and Yo Yo for the same! In all, this 2-hr movie isn't meant for our grey matter but is still watchable (esp if watched with friends and fun-intent). My rating: **1/2