The Sword of Impetitude

Too late in the day to publish a review, but nevermind.. here it goes!

Everyone in the country and their bitter halves who have ever tuned onto news channels know about the Aarushi Talwar - Hemraj double murder. A lot has been said, written, discussed and debated about the case. Most people would know details better than many of the investigating officers. The script is basically what has been reported of the case by the media, plus a little more from the 'other' side.

The film, itself, is a brilliant docudrama narrating the story from a dual point of view with the same scenes being shot in different perspectives of narration. This itself points to a clear and well written screenplay. The dialogues are crisp and to the point. The ones by the main protagonist of the movie (Ashwin Kumar, played by Irfan Khan) are justifiably the best - with some dry and some caustic humour interspersed. The 'Dharmpracharak asan' term used for the missionary position is as brilliant a word play as you would ever get in a bollywood movie, mainstream bollywood movie at that.

I have a feeling that the motive behind the movie was to show the injustice done to the parents of the dead girl who are now languishing in jail. Quoting from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Boscombe Valley Mystery, "Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence," "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged.". However, in this particular case, it did appear to the viewer - and was emphasised by Irfan's character in the brilliant climax debate - that it was quite obvious that the wrong people had been sentenced. The court gives a decision based on the evidence collected and evidence shown by the investigating team. The court did not do much wrong. The investigating team fucked up royally! On multiple counts. If the chief aim of the movie was to show the shabby state of affairs our so called investigating teams do, then the movie is a huge success.

The actors were chosen perfectly, the characters were brilliantly named. Hell, so was the movie! Acting is top notch by the entire cast. If you have not yet seen the movie, do so.