Shubho Mahurat

This day and age? Difficult to see why a novel that formed the basis for a popular (if not very good) American film in the 1980s and an excellent British television adaptation in the nineties should somehow have become so antiquated in 2003. Agatha Christie novels never work terribly well as whodunnits in film versions since it is almost impossible to duplicate in a film the devices she uses so superbly to fool readers in her novels. What Rituparno Ghosh has done is something very clever indeed. He has rewritten the piece so that in effect the whodunnit elements become less important and the psychological elements of the story (never a particular strongpoint with Christie) are much enhanced. The adaptation to an Indian situation is extremely adroit and all in all this is quite the best film (as opposed to television) adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel that I have ever seen (and I think one way or the other I have seen most of them).

Adaptation of Christie's 'The Mirror Crack's from Side to Side'. Adapted so well in the backdrop of making of a film with a ageing star and how it can get messed up to every level, that I never believed it was a Christie story until we read the actual one in translation. The features Sharmila Tagore and Rakhee sharing screen after 30-40 years when they were in the peak of their sexy careers. Also, real cameos by Goutam Ghose, Madhabi Mukherjee, Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee and Abhijit Guha. I have a sweet tooth for detective stories, but this one actually counters all the the then tropes about those and breaks the ongoing filmgasm of Feluda and Byomkesh being made every year.

Although the plot is somewhat predicable, this movie was surely very riveting till the very last minute. Packed with Indian star actresses like Sharmila Tagore and Nandita Das, there was never any lack of suspense.

On the down side, I think the story was adopted from one of Agatha Christie novels, however it was not mentioned except the movie was dedicated to one of her creations, Miss Marple.

It is not easy to convert this foreign theme in Bengali and Rituparno Ghosh has done an excellent job. I would call it one of the best Bengali detective films.

Yeah!I am very big fan of Agatha Christie and when i first heard of an Indian(Bengali) version of 'The Mirror Crack'd from side to side' i practically winced.Having seen the one with Liz Taylor & Rock Hudson with Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple i was wondering what Mr.Ghosh, the director had to offer in this Indianised version of a classic.

The result is nothing short of amazing as Mr.Ghosh rewrote the entire novel in an Indian context and suitably indianized the characters to make the movie thoroughly entertaining.The casting was a stroke of genius by bringing in the legendary Sharmila Tagore to play Marina Gregg.The story has been altered in places in such a way which makes more sense from the Indian point of view. Also Rituporno managed to avoid the 'Costume Drama' like feel of the Liz Taylor version.Viola!We now have a story which we can relate to.

The end result is superb due to the fact Rituporno is one of those filmmakers who know how to tell a story and edit well enough to keep the flow of the tale.

I am glad that he attempted this movie and hopefully i would love to have a Bengali version of '4:50 from Paddington'.Well done!Rituporno. Keep up the good work.

This movie is based of an Agatha Christie novel, which for its time must have been very original and spellbinding, but in this time and age, making a movie based on those stories is an insult to the audience. 10 minutes into the movie its easy to guess who is the victim as well as who is the killer. The acting on the other hand is great, which is what i would expect anyway, since this movie is packed with bollywood superstars like Nandita Das and Sharmila Tagor.