Comments on: Talaash: A Second Opinion

By: Danish Sheikh

Danish Sheikh — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:37:22 +0000

The more I think about this movie, the more I dislike it. It just felt so hollow and uninspired … the “twist” was wearyingly inevitable, and too much of the movie was built around it, leading up to it, etc. There were stray good performances, and I completely agree with Lekha on its atmospherics but really, if a supernatural mystery thriller can manage to come off as uninspired and lethargic … someone’s messed up majorly.

By: Arghya

Arghya — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:14:58 +0000

I think the storytellers Harsh, needed a Plan B, and more than a little help from their friends.

By: Harsh

Harsh — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:10:58 +0000

I felt much of this film is about redemption, forgiving yourself and the loneliness that one feels in the city of Bombay. The fact that the protagonist is a rational man, a cop, played by a popular actor who does not do this genre of films mostly is an icing on the cake as he constantly throws the audience in the wrong direction as far as the plot is concerned. We do not have the believe in the ending, the fact that the protagonist believed what happened in the end is a wonderful achievement of storytelling.

By: Tejaswi

Tejaswi — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:58:47 +0000

You should visit Lekha’s movie review blog.
http://reviewerswithoutborders.blogspot.in/

By: Mihira Sood

Mihira Sood — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:16:03 +0000

Ladies are also capable of superlative writing Aamir! Such as the author of this post

By: Lekha

Lekha — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:15:08 +0000

Anisha, that was my first thought as well but it would’ve been extremely dishonest of me to have said that because I caught on WELL after the interval and that too, because somebody suggested it to me! I was so sure that Aamir Khan’s kid had become a disturbed aatma to get revenge on his dad and was responsible for the car accident. So let’s not overestimate the intelligence of some members of the audience

Arghya, I’m sure this film wasn’t meant to be a documentary! Just the way Peter Jackson isn’t insisting that Rivendell exists, I’m sure Aamir isn’t asserting that ghosts exist. Talaash obeys the rules of its universe and that’s the only test, as far as RWB is concerned!

By: Bleh

Bleh — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 03:21:14 +0000

Arre yaar! It is just a movie. You do know it isn’t real.. Even if they make an assertion that ghosts are real that doesn’t make it true. You are basically pissing all over every movie which does that!

I am sorry some movies which do that are pretty neat..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoEwR9_Sy_M

By: Aamir

Aamir — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 00:40:43 +0000

Someone directed me to this site… Must say I enjoyed reading many articles… and this was particularly funny! I don’t know who the gentleman is but the last line, ‘you’ll find that most movies are fragrant when your seat has a button to summon a waiter’ was just superlative…

Respect your views on the film you set of criticaltwenties!

By: Arghya

Arghya — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 00:40:35 +0000

Wonderfully written of course but you equally wonderfully under-state my objection. It’s not about inserting ghosts in a murder mystery which is an objection about mixing genres. It’s about ghosts in THIS murder mystery which is an objection about poorly thought-out script-writing. It’s also about a dogmatic assertion of the existence of ghosts, which is not a product of this being a ghost story as much a product of the protagonist believing at the end that spirits do indeed exist, which is a fundamental objection about the movie’s message.

Unlike Anisha, I don’t watch movies, suspense or otherwise, guessing the movie’s next move. So when the twists did happen, I was most certainly crying out for respect, not because they were explaining everything, which seems like missing the woods for the trees, and also entirely necessary given that the average Indian movie-goer isn’t as smart, quick or well-versed in sixth sensy movies as Anisha is. But rather hoping that they had some self-respect and didn’t write such terrible crap and hope for it to pass off as cinema, super-natural or murder mystery.

But clearly they’ve done a decent enough job if they’ve managed to dupe one of the pair of the finest movie reviewers in India, or anywhere (they are without borders of course) I know!

By: Anisha

Anisha — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:03:10 +0000

Haha, great read, as ever. Though, I did watch the awful Gangs of Wasseypur (part 2; I really liked part 1) on said Lazy Boy and let me tell you, it is extremely uncomfortable to sit up in indignation on a reclining seat.

Re Talaash: I agree with you (and disagree with Arghya) that there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the insertion of supernatural characters into a film of any genre (Ghost, The Others, Casper). I liked a lot of Talaash – the isolation of a couple trying to deal with the death of a child, the view of a seedy mafia and prostitution underworld, and a dishy Aamir Khan (got to say, I love the ‘tache).

What I didn’t like, though, was the blatant signposting of the supernatural elements. Is it just quibbling to ask for a little suspense in a murder mystery? That the central character could be dead occurred to me during the intermission (after watching a couple of the legendary films mentioned here, I’ve resorted to running through a mental checklist of Who Could Be Dead during every suspense film). Then the second half became a long drag. To add insult to injury, they didn’t just shout “Gotcha”, either: at the very end they insisted on jabbing every damned signpost in your eye – saw that? and that? and that? – with the enthusiasm of a particularly smarmy 11 year old. YES I DID. NOW STOP YOU LITTLE SHIT.

A little more respect would have been nice.