Talvar [2015]

Language - English
Director - Meghna Gulzar
Run Time - 2 hours, 12 minutes
Genre - Drama/Mystery
Starring - Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma

'Talvar' takes us back to the gruesome story of Aarushi Talwar double murder case which absorbed and dumbfounded the entire country. This is not another version of what happened, rather an anthology of all possible versions, upon which the audience can base their judgment.

Bollywood  movies rarely please me, but Talvar was an exception.

What works for this movie is its unique documentary-esque style of storytelling which keeps the audience enthralled throughout. Kudos to Vishal Bharadwaj for that. Also, credit to Irrfan, Konkona and especially to Neeraj Kabi for his performance as 'Ramesh Tandon' (Ramesh Talwar). I'm beginning to like him quite a lot after following his performances in 'Ship of Theseus' and 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy'.

This movie reveals how truly fucked up and bizarre the Indian justice systems' working is, as we get an overview of how this case progressed. It shows how Indian police and investigating authorities are incapable of solving a crime even with the easiest of evidence available and how a case becomes a media trial instead of being just a police investigation.

Although there were some shortcomings according to me. Vishal Bharadwaj, here portrays a biased stand towards the parents' innocence and builds the movie chiefly on that. Also, Tabu's role was unnecessary and could have easily been cut out.

In conclusion, I would like to shower some praise on Vishal Bharadwaj. He is one of the few genius minds in Bollywood. His films move away from the usual run of the mill Bollywood films, and that is one thing I love about his work. His films challenge the typical 'song-dance-drama-sprinkle some comedy' routine to which majority of Bollywood films adhere to and thus seem like a diamond among the soot. More movies should be made like this.

Just go Watch it. This is one movie you should not miss out on.

My Rating - 8.6/10