Murder

Murder review :

The Hollywood film Unfaithful was a highly successful erotic thriller which did decent business in Indian cities as well. The plot involving a married lady who has an affair and how it seriously impairs her marital relationship won accolades globally particularly Diane Lane's sterling performance.

It wasnt going to be long before Bollywood would get "inspired" from this film and soon enough, Mahesh Bhatt wrote and produced Murder (2004) starring Mallika Sherawat and Emran Hashmi adding his own dose of melodrama and song and dance routine. Quite a few scenes from Unfaithful were copied as is. The formula worked as Murder was lapped up big time by the Indian audience and became one of the highest grossers of 2004. It transformed Mallika in to an overnight sensation and Emran Hashmi became a serial kisser for many years. Interestingly, both Unfaithful and Murder were released at the New Empire cinema in Mumbai.

I had seen Murder at Citylight cinema, Mahim where it ran to packed house for many weeks. Hawas wasn't released in my area so I rented its VCD. Both the Hindi films evoked quite a controversy in that year.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

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.

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.

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.

Storyline: The punchline of the movie says, "She is Married, She is lonely, She is having an affair". I guess this sums up the entire story. Now, one would be curious to ask, whether the skin-show is actually relevant. Well, I would recommend that you watch the movie to know more.

Comment: The story line is inspired by Adrian Lyne's UNFAITHFUL (2002) starring Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Oliver Martinez, with sufficient changes in the story to suit Indian Conditions. The performances are quite average and bearable. Mallika Sherawat has created new standards for skin show in Bollywood with this movie.

The Direction and Music have been given their due. The songs 'Kaho na Kaho' and 'Bheege Hont' would make the song worthy enough to have it as an mp3 in your collection. In general, the movie is watchable and makes a good pastime.