Talaash: Even Mr. Perfect can go wrong

A very strong track record, we expect nothing but perfection from Aamir Khan. He is so profoundly perfect in his moves, that it begs the question what can move this mountain. His recent TV stint though far from perfect did make its mark on the television audience. For those 90 minutes the country was galvanized. He is called Mr. Perfect for nothing, all his recent movies have been a notch above or something different than the day to day mashed up dish we are served. In all this junk food, Aamir’s movies are fine dine complete with a glass of wine.

Excel Entertainment should be a very proud production house which can boast of very strong titles like Dil Chahta Hain, Lakshya, Rock On and I can go on. They have always brought alive new cinema and given opportunities to fresh directors. The same can be said for Aamir Khan Productions, these two coming together certainly is an event to watch out for.

The expectations from Talaash were huge, as is with every Aamir movie. Big names were attached to the project and with Aamir at helm the stakes are that much higher. The only new face was the director Reema Kagti known for Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd.  not the most rememberable movie. The promotions and trailers of Talaash did not reveal much, but neither did it gave a wholesome feeling as some movies do.

Talaash combines a murder mystery, with a emotional back story of Inspector Surjan Shekhawat and his wife Roshni. The movies begins with a thrill and reveals new twists in every scene, meandering so close to perfection but losing my faith at the finish.

 There was a lack of originality when it comes to scripts, but I concede that the premise of Talaash was good and the story seemed well written. What failed the movie was execution, the only strong point of the screenplay was its ability to keep the mystery alive till the very end. Other than that it failed at so many levels, I am horrified Zoya Akhtar such a talented filmmaker failed at seeing the gaping plotholes. Once your start is faulty you will struggle to finish well. Reema Kagti starts of well revealing so much in such little time by interval the intrigue was built and so were my expectations. But as with most movies, without due diligence to the second half the movie crucifies itself. What could have been, what it was.

The music of the movie is completely enamoring taking the story ahead at every juncture combined so well with the rest. The characters were all very well played. Rani was wasted, though the story did not leave much for her to bite into. Aamir hogged the most screen space, and delivered a convincing performance. The most perfect cast was let down by very weak dialogues by Farhan Akhtar clearly he does not hold the talent of his father. In such chilling moments, the characters spoke such sub standard lines that it shocked me. The only character that was convincing in every scene was Nawazuddin Siddiqui, he stole the limelight with his expressive eyes and amazing range.

It is sad to see that an amateur director derailed such an opportunity and what I had to settle with was mediocrity. With Aamir doing one movie a year, I had hoped for so much more.