User reviews

'Samay' is one of the best movies of 2003. It stars the beauty queen Sushmita Sen in one of the most meaningful roles of her career. She plays the role of an intelligent cop who is assigned the task of solving the murder of a wealthy businessman. She begins to unearth every clues linking her to the killer.

But before she could solve the mystery of the businessman's homicide, another murder takes place. This time a leading actress of the film industry has been murdered. To make matters worse, a famous contact-killer of the city has also been killed.

Each murder follows an interesting pattern-the first victim was killed at 12, the second at 3 and the third at 6. And each victim had a defective eyesight with a power of -2. Will Sush be able to stop the killer from carrying out one more crime with impunity or will she fail? The movie is extremely interesting right from the beginning. This is the first movie I have seen that doesn't follow the usual routine of useless songs and dance numbers. There is only one song in the movie, 'Laila Laila' but it was necessary to establish the moves of the second victim before she was murdered.

'Samay' scores in almost every department. Cinematography was good and the editing was well-paced. The supporting casts were equally good as the lead cast. Sushant Singh was competitive and so were Dinesh Lamba and Rajesh Khera.

As mentioned above, with 'Samay' Sushmita should easily win the critical acclaim that she has longed for from the beginning of her career. She was competitive throughout the movie. No actress can match her given the role of a smart and diligent cop in the movie.

The only thing that I don't like in the movie is the climax which was heavy and unsatisfactory.

Despite an unsatisfactory ending, watch 'Samay' for pure entertainment.

I rate it 8/10.

This movie is made in the style of a CID episode. CID, by the way, is a great show. The plot is very captivating, and how the story unfolds is quite interesting. Sushmita does a wonderful job of portraying a determined, confident CID officer and a loving, caring mother at the same time. She is a great example of a woman of the 21st century. One thing I do not like, however, is the ending. It is creative but unsatisfactory.

This film is a rip off of Seven, right down to the surprise intro of the villain.

However, that doesn't make it a bad movie. In fact, amid all the trash that Bollywood just unleashed, this is a pretty interesting Indianized version of Seven. Instead of the sins, they have put in a different sort of a motive, which is actually well thought out and laid out.

Acting is pretty good, especially of Sushmita Sen. So is the direction and editing.

On the whole, I would recommend it, as it is a good thriller and it does not lose its thread and sink into melodrama, as how Hindi thriller movies usually do.

Underrated film..good one....suspense and thriller movie...but expected Susmita Sen to be better more

Though this movie is a lot like another English (Hollywood) movie, for Bollywood cinemas, it's an excellent improvement on their usual stock. Excellent direction & use of lighting.

No love-interest & not much deviation from the plot keeps the viewer at the edge of the seat, right till the end of the movie.

All in all, an excellent movie I recommend to everyone.

I appreciate most of the people who are in Favour of this movie. There is no doubt in the fact that this deserved a lot more than what it achieved. Since it was not produced by a big banner may be that's the reason it's wasn't promoted that much. I would say a speechless direction with such fine tuned script with preciseness in the way it was shot, the analytical bent of crime it presented with extremely talented set of actors(from small to big) especially sushmita sen, sushant Singh and Jackie shroff. I would add that understanding of how, when and where which actor according to his capability should be used of which samay is a perfect example. Such sleek writing, direction and even that Laila Laila song is damn sexy without being vulgar on the scene. Music is also and hats to that guy who gave enhancement to the scenes with accurate mood setting back ground score. I hv only seen only twice but it blew my mind completely. I feel sad for this production company and especially directors who did such high quality work yet movie not being on star status didnot fetch well but even after 4 yrsi hv become an avid fan of it.

Samay : When Time Strikes review :

In an ode to its genre inspiration, the film begins with clip from Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). Samay is a psychological thriller directed by Robby Grewal and starring Sushmita Sen which sadly, came and went without a whimper in early 2000s - an era dominated by single screens and not multiplexes where its intended audience lay. Maybe it arrived a decade too early!!

Sushmita plays top cop Malvika Chauhan who is solving three seemingly unrelated murders but feels they are all connected together. Moreover, the killer's next target is Malvika herself. Atleast, it appears to be...

Sushmita Sen is not the best of actors but she more than makes up for it through the sheer grace and dignity she exudes as a person. In Samay also, she is in top form and its difficult to keep your eyes off her for even a moment. Playing a single mother as well as a tough officer, Sush is a sheer delight to watch. So much that you forget the few loopholes in script and the jaded climax which could've been avoided.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Samay .... saw this movie on TV long back but the gripping, unusual climax and Sushmita playing ACP to a tee, imprinted this movie on my mind forever.

The opening scene with VERTIGO played on large screen is definitely appropriate message ... this is a thriller of Hitchcockian genre. However, one gets this feeling only as movie progresses with 3 unique murders and a serial killer on loose. All the characters, whether lead or supporting cast, are well established within the flow. Inspite of so many characters getting introduced, not even for a moment story seems diverging from the main plot. In fact, each murder just adds another progression, as depicted through Pokemon levels. Big round of applause to the director for such a commendable job. Climax is spine chilling making this movie not just thriller but horrifying as well. I find this change appreciating. One cannot always expect goody goody end.

Music is well placed in the narration. There are just two songs: 1.)An item number, introducing 2nd victim and 2.)A short song establishing last victim, which audience realize only during the climax. Apart from this, regular background from day-to-day life fills in for most of the background score which gives a realistic touch to the plot.

Coming on to characters, Sushmita as ACP Malvika is awesome. She brilliantly portrays a hard-core cop who always maintains her composure but at the same time like any other human has flaws/weaknesses. Her interrogation style reflects her intelligence and alertness. Jackie Shroff, the antagonist very well tests her composure in the climax by slowly revealing his cold-blooded nature. Sushant Singh as ACP's assistant (Inspector Satya), Dinesh Lamba as Sub-Inspector Rafique and Rajesh Khera as Doc make a perfect team, equally involved and working hard to solve the mystery.

Got to know that this movie received national award for editing .... undoubtedly it deserves one.

Finally, Samay is indeed an all-time watchable thriller.

This is one of the best crime thrillers I have ever seen. It definitely has to be Sushmita Sen's best film her acting was also good usually she cannot act. Her role as a police officer really did suit her. She is better off like that because she is not very glamorous and she can't act in romantic roles. There is only one song in the film called Laila Laila... which was put in a very sensible way, it doe's not have any couples dancing around trees in Switzerland. It was about an actress who was shooting her music video; the song & cinematography were both terrific. Ending was quite sad but it was very clever and unexpected. A lot of people said that it is inspired from Seven, I've not seen it but I am 200% sure that Samay will turn out to better than Seven although it is one of the top 250 IMDb movies. The film is very similar to the CID programme on Sony Entertainment Television Asia. Overall Samay: When Time Strikes is one of my most favourite movies!

Awesome, nail biting suspense, brilliant, convincing, strong script, good performances, strong direction.

Samay is a film ahead of it's time. Undoubtedly the best thriller in bollywood. So much of intelligence has gone into the script which is clearly visible in the film. Actors are convincing. Each frame, each scene, each dialogue, each moment creates suspense. Audience waits for the very next moment. Background music is awesome. Actor gyan prakash (ritika's father) deserves special mention. He should have got more roles. Sushmita sen, jackie shroff, sushant and all others are highly convincing.

The movie is a thriller and keeps you glued to your seat and waiting to know who the killer is !! Sushmita sen done a wonderful job as a cop, hats off to the script and it won National award for best editing. Loved the movie 👍👍

Execellent direction...one of the best suspense movie in bollywood.

The problem with thrillers or suspense drama is that loop holes in the screenplay cannot be forgiven. Romantic dramas or horror flicks can be ignored of the possible dumb story line. A 2 hour 15 minutes film is a tad too long for a thriller. This is not a suspense drama. There are many Hollywood films better than this like David Fincher's "Seven" (Go figure out). The suspense was very bland as the reasoning for the murders was, well not logical nor made any sense.

This is a movie where director grabs audience in mystery right from the shot one.It starts with the murder of a famous businessman and then a series of murders follows it. The interesting part is that each murder has some clues left behind which are left for police cop(brilliantly played by sushmita sen) to solve. Unlike other bollywood films audience gets an opportunity to go on a parallel journey with her on murder trail and director intelligently introduces twists here and there to thicken the plot.

The performances are brilliant especially by Sushmita Sen and Sushant Singh. Sushant Singh has again come out with a balanced performance as an assistant of Sushmita Sen and his fans of "Jungle" and "The legend of Bhagat Singh" won't regret this one. But the surprise package of film is Sushmita Sen who perfectly essays the role of a cop and has given a balanced performance.The time has come when Bollywood film makers start considering her seriously beyond dance numbers.The only weak point in film is that the end is a bit too hasty . A movie worth watching for those looking beyond Bollywood family dramas. My recommendation is 7/10

What worked: It's a fine thriller, with a good screenplay and direction. Sushmita Sen performed very well in the movie, and so did the supporting actors Jackie and Sushant. Unlike many female lead movies, Sushmita was well balanced in her character; no unnecessary ruthlessness or mean behaviors. What did not work: I think the movie could have been better if it was produced today. The technical aspect of the movie is weak; it has weak camera work and sound mixing. Final verdict: recommended

By far the best movie on serial killing in bollywood. No other movie of this genre can even touch it. Has all the elements of a perfect movie on this subject. This is still an unexplored segment. Samay has created a milestone that cant be reached so easily. But it was way ahead of its time & mainly released in single screens which are run by masses. The intellectual multiplex audience would now have changed the fate of this movie drastically.

It was made in a time when Bollywood audience (of then) were not ready for it.

This movie is way ahead of its time. Bollywood need to showcase same talent like this