It's usual for outsiders to disagree about the goodness of a movie with the native speakers. I have liked Telugu action, song, dance, comedies which my Telugu speaking friends are not fond of. To them probably the movie was another in the oft made genre of commercial entertainers to which they are overexposed. But when I find that people dislike Talaash - supposedly a crime thriller movie, I am surprised because a well made film in the genre appeals to people irrespective of the language and such films are rare, so the question of repeativity does not arise.
Talaash starts impressively with a homicide investigation and makes steady progress. The investigation could have continued briskly, but the film increasingly focuses on how the investigator is reeling from the loss of his young son and his estranged relationship with his wife. While this not itself is not deficiency, the investigation that takes place in parallel appears to be stalled. The unfolding of the investigation is unduely held, because a shoddily made sub-plot which triggers a clue takes time
to unfold and the trigger could have been done away with. The movie successfully completes a transition into a moral-supernatural thriller where the cop overcomes his guilt over his negligence and the bad guys get punished (although not convincingly).
Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukhurjee are convincing and their characters are well developed. The movie at some point becomes a character exposition of the cop, but I guess that the need to accomodate the starriness of Aamir Khan prolongs this unnecessarily. For example, the other kid who survives appears merely like a prop to lead to an Aamir Khan acting moment. But that said, it is only a minor glitch. Nawazuddin Siddique is convincing as a side kick of a pimp and does well too, but the motivations of his character are not clear. The sub-plot where he blackmails the business man is rather weak and need not have streched in parallel along side the main plot. The movie would have been more interesting had it been compartmentalized.
Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee both shine in their roles. Rani Mukherjee, in fact is the eye candy in this movie and I wonder if her not so young housewife attire is a cultural reflection or 'visual relief' or serves to highlight the plight of the cop despite the presence of an attractive wife.
The movie has several interesting moments. The wife leaving the dinner table as if in distress, at an off-hand comment only to casually return with a utensil. How the wife copes up with the trauma better than the cop is interestingly told. The what-if scenarios as to how the cop could have saved his child unfolds refreshingly told, in place of an overtly sorrowful song (which is the norm in 'our' movies). The relationship between Siddique and an ageing sex worker also has a few brief, but heart warming moments. Especially the scene in which the pimp leaves the woman out as being old is very well done without giving away the suspense, but also serves to bring out their delicate relationship.
Kareena Kapoor as the high ranking escort does a good job, but her character becomes increasingly mysterious and together with Siddique's death is a a give away. With more care, the director could have pulled a rug from under our feet. The summary retributions in the climactic scenes and unfolding of the suspense seem slightly out of place in a movie so far well made as this. I did not buy for one moment, the Goan woman's (I hear a D'souza woman is a standard stereotype in Mumbai based Hindi movies) contact with the dead child, though the sub-plot is not poorly made as it appears. But the climax sells this some what unconvincingly.
The movie lacks a moment or two of brilliance, (3 Idiots would be an average film without its two or three brilliant moments), but is good through out and definitely makes for an interesting viewing.
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