Cast: Parineeti Chopra, Aditi Hydari, Avinash Tiwary, Kriti Kulhari, Tota Roy Chowdhury and others.
Director: Ribhu Dasgupta
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: 2020-02-26
Language: Hindi
Rating: 2/5

There are times you have a lot of say, but nothing really comes out. The hurt is making you numb, too numb to say the words that are refusing to come out of your mouth, too numb to even understand why are you just waiting there and letting the hurt, hurt you more. And then one fine day, you snap out of that blur, and rage at something that perhaps shouldn’t have affected you thus... Can you relate to my rant? Then perhaps you will understand Mira Kapoor (Parineeti Chopra).

She lives in London, once she had a dreamy husband, a wonderful job and a future. Slowly, everything is lost. She is now an alcoholic, who cannot dream of what her future would be like. She is lost, just journeying on the same route over and over again. A route that takes her around Nusrat (Aditi Rao Hydari) and Anand (Shamaun Ahmed)’s home. The couple epitomize everything that her life once used to be. Just watching them through the window of her train, she shares their moments together. She connects with them, feels for them and in her own way, cares for them. Until one day Mira finds something off between the two and tries to intervene. The moment she rings the bell to Nusrat’s house – everything in Mira’s life spins out of control. 

One moment she finds herself reacting to Nusrat and Anand’s predicament, the next she hears that Nusrat is dead. What’s worse, it is Mira who is being implicated in Nusrat’s murder. 

Somewhere deep within, Mira knows she isn’t capable of murder but there are many things that are just a blur. She doesn’t recollect what made her follow Nusrat, she doesn’t know what happened, and she is scared with nowhere to go.

The film is a suspense thriller and we are not giving you any hints, however – here are things to watch out for…

The first half of the film, while the suspense is awesome, the second half is too half chaotic and not equally thrilling as the first half of the film. Technically the film is really superior to a lot of things we’ve been fed on the OTT. The cinematography by Tribhuvan Babu Sadineni is excellent, given his repertoire of work doesn’t scream of such a high-profile job – This film will surely turn the tide for him. The score by Gilad Benamram and Chandan Saxena is gripping but whatever Viddesh Malankar has tried to do with Paula Hawkins’ book with the same time is unnecessary and confusing. All the changes in the script, have left the storyline undercooked and chaotic.

Ribhu Dasgupta couldn’t quite get Parineeti Chopra to shape into Mira Kapoor’s character. Neither could her make-up artist Mitali Vakil help with her ‘alcoholic, defeated lady’ look. Smudging kohl isn’t enough Ms Vakil, if you can use prosthetics for the wound, why not use it to puff her face like that of an alcoholic? 

Throughout the film, Parineeti sports the ‘morning after’ look and a deadpan expression – not boosting the film much. For that matter, Kriti Kulhari who plays the detective, also has an odd style, which is completely not required. Aditi Rao Hydari is on the extreme opposite end of the spectrum – she doesn’t experiment with her look at all. Since her look has nothing much to do with the film, it works. 

Yet, much in the film is changed in comparison to what Emily Blunt’s version dealt with, but unfortunately the many new characters, the new situations fail the purpose of the film. Word of advice, see Blunt’s version again, if you must. Despite its many flaws, it is still a better film. Ribhu, buck up!