Vishesh Films are back with the debut of their in-house fresh talent Vishesh Bhatt who thankfully gives us a decent Indianised version of a Spanish Film THE HIDDEN FACE / LA CARA OCULTA which is already there in my list of must watch suspense dramas form the World Cinema. Now its obvious that if a movie of that caliber has been chosen to be remade in India then its got to give you something exceptional out of the routine without any doubt. And that’s precisely what MURDER 3 gives the viewers (in its second hour), along with the usual dose of interesting music, erotic scenes and initial hiccups in the narration.
For a change this time Vishesh Films cannot be blamed of making a blatant rip off as MURDER 3 is an official adaptation of its Spanish original with the same producers, Fox Studios backing the project in India too. However since there is no mention of it being an official adaptation in its opening titles (where it should be ideally), so I would like to take it as an “intentional hiding of facts” from the Indian audience by the makers, which was not expected. Anyway, following their famous forte, once again The Bhatts pick up a brilliant project for their Bollywood remake, which has all the elements essential for a film to be included in their MURDER series. As a result, even though it has no connection with its previous parts and also has a pretty weak first half, the film still successfully manages to give you the return of your money in its final hour.
Having said that, MURDER 3 could have been a landmark film in Indian Cinema, if only the young director had added some kind of clues or engaging moments in its first half. In fact this is one of those foreign remakes which majorly looses its marks due to the trend of Interval we have in our part of the world. Because in real terms before Interval, MURDER 3 has simply got nothing and post intermission it actually has got everything.
To tell you the truth, I even saw few couples moving out of the theater at interval and I personally requested all of them to stay. One of those couples obliged to my request and then especially came forward to say thanks in the end, for not letting them leave the movie in the mid way. Now that was possible only because I had seen the original and very well knew what was coming next which was undoubtedly going to be worth watching for all. But the normal (innocent) audience, not familiar with its original, didn’t knew that at all and therefore were all confused at the Interval that what kind of film it is (mystery, horror, or crime-drama) showing no progression of any kind even till its midpoint.
So from that point of view MURDER 3 doesn’t work at all till its intermission. But post interval it suddenly becomes a shocking eye opener with a never seen before kind of twist in Indian Cinema turning the film into a must watch indeed. To give you an idea, as the characters in the script started revealing their actual truths, all the giggles, casual conversations and phone lights simply went off in the theater resulting in a pin drop silence, rarely found watching a Bollywood film. People literally got stunned with the sudden, wicked twist in the tale in its final 40 minutes giving you a mixed feeling of love, distrust, uneasiness, guilt, anger, revenge or justice. And then with a solid, open but thoughtful climax coming next, everyone couldn’t deny watching a good film at last forgetting its avoidable first half.
Hence in totality MURDER 3 is a fine attempt by the debutant director Vishesh Bhatt giving you something never offered before in Hindi films. Yes, he majorly follows the original Spanish film sincerely till the added climax, yet the way he conceives his second hour in particular, surely deserves appreciation both from the veterans as well as by the audience unarguably. The project once again proves the well known fact that Cinema is actually Storytelling and if you have a great story/plot in store for your viewers then you surely got a winner in your hands for the box office.
Another merit of the film is that despite of having few erotic sexual scenes, it doesn’t rely on them completely and remains utterly unpredictable in its final hour, resulting in a great emotional suspense drama in the end. Without revealing its basic plot having a great shock value, I would like to add few lines from my short review of the Spanish Original that,
“No, the film doesn’t have any new characters nor it showcases any new relationship between a couple other than LOVE. Yet, the film has something important to share about the hidden inner psyche of a lover in some sudden or extreme situation. To be precise, every lover in the world has this one thought at the back of his or her mind that in case I die this very moment then would he (she) go for another woman (man) at once, will take some time or will never opt for another one in his (her) entire life. Now whether one likes to believe it or not, but this shaky thought scares many to the state of haunting and if given a chance they would surely like to test their partner to pacify their wandering thoughts undoubtedly.”
MURDER 3 also talks about this very question in a lover’s life but unfortunately its not able to focus on the same in an impressive manner as they did in its original THE HIDDEN FACE. This emotional part of the script comes into the limelight only in the last 35-40 minutes and by that time the viewer is too tired of waiting for something substantial. But still, since this last half an hour remains too good to watch as per the standards of many recent big projects, so one cannot write off the film just like that and has to appreciate the effort truly following the saying, “All is well that ends well”.
In the musical department, it has few good songs but not any instant hits associated with the brand name of Murder. Raju Singh’s background music scores much more than the soundtrack itself as its highly impressive in the sequences revealing the shocking twist. Cinematography is fine capturing the basic essence of the subject and dialogues are just average with nothing path breaking.
Performances wise MURDER 3 cannot be rated as a strong film since other than Aditi no one rises above the routine level in the lead roles including Randeep Hooda and Sara. Aditi excels in her portrayal of various emotions in the last hour but Sara only looks beautiful giving the same expressions throughout till the end. However the trio of Rajesh Shringarpure, Shekhar Shukla and Bugs Bhargava make their present felt in their small roles.
Finally, it can easily be said that MURDER 3 definitely rises much above the level of its first two parts in comparison. It has a strong plot driven content with an exclusive shock value for the audience and a brilliant climax. So you can surely go for it this weekend, keeping in mind that the film will actually start post intermission.
Rating : 3 / 5
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