Talaash (2012)

A cop, investigating the mysterious death of a filmstar, meets a sex-worker, while he faces some personal problems psychologically. The mystery connects these people in a way, that ultimately changes their lives.

Director:

Reema Kagti

Writers:

Farhan Akhtar (dialogue), Zoya Akhtar (story),

Stars:

Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukerji

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Aamir Khan	...	Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat
Kareena Kapoor	...	Rosie / Simran
Rani Mukerji	...	Roshni Shekhawat
Nawazuddin Siddiqui	...	Tehmur
Raj Kumar Yadav	...	Devrath Kulkarni
Sheeba Chaddha	...	Nirmala
Shernaz Patel	...	Frenny
Shivani Tanksale	...	Roshni's friend
Aditi Vasudev	...	Mallika
Vivan Bhatena	...	Armaan Kapoor
Gulfam Khan	...	Madam
Om Prakash	...	Yuvraj
Subrat Dutta	...	Shashi
Pariva Pranati	...	Sonia Kapoor
Prashant Prakash	...	Nikhil

Storyline

The film opens with a car driving by the sea drive, which all of a sudden, screeches to a halt and turns randomly, to break the sidewalk, and fall into the sea. Next day, enter Inspector Surjan Singh Sekhawat, who is the investigating officer. A simultaneous plot reveals that he and his wife are coping with some personal loss of losing their only child, Karan. They have moved to their new home in Mumbai, where, his wife, Roshni is finishing with the unpacking. The doorbell rings, and she find out that it is an elderly lady, who introduces herself as Franny. She asks for some tea, and while Roshni is away into the kitchen, she rummages through the yet unpacked boxes, and finds a family photograph, where she addresses the dead child by his name, and seems happy. Meanwhile, Surjan encounters a sex worker named Rosie, who can shed some light upon the entire mystery.

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Plot Keywords:

death | prostitute | red light district | film actor | car accident | 

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Taglines:

The Answer Lies Within

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi English Marathi Tamil

Release Date:

30 November 2012 (India)

Also Known As:

Reema Kagti's Untitled Project

Filming Locations:

Kamathipura, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Box Office

Budget:

$7,395,080 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,638,706 (USA) (30 November 2012)

Gross:

$2,706,375 (USA) (14 December 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aamir Khan Productions, Excel Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Zoya Akhtar has admitted that the finale twist was borrowed from her own experience.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, two laborer are shown to install a signboard saying "Caution. Accident spot, 150m."

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Connections

References Aksar (2006)

User Reviews

After the mindless films that preceded it during the Diwali weekend, Talaash comes as a breath of fresh air

The movie opens with a random accident involving a popular film star that seems to defy all explanation. It also introduces the main protagonist, Inspector Shekhawat (played gloriously by Aamir Khan). The rest of the movie details how the good inspector peels away the mystery surrounding the accident. Along the way, he also battles his own demons in the form guilt for his child's untimely death in an accident.

The movie is scripted well enough to keep you interested all the way to the end, even if the end if a tad bit tame.

Five-star performances from all the leading characters ensures that you are sucked into the mood and world that Reema Kagti creates. Nawazuddin Siddiqi gives another stellar performance to follow-up on his performance in Gangs of Wasseypur. Rani Mukherjee redeems her acting credentials after the disaster of Aiyaa. Kareena Kapoor is competent. However, it is Aamir Khan who steals the show with a highly nuanced performance which I am sure he will rate among his finest.

The music from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is very complimentary and at no time does it intrude, as it is want to do in Hindi films, into the story-telling. Instead it is very much part of the story-telling and at times even takes things forward.

The movie is another feather in the cap of Zoya Akhtar who has penned the story and screenplay along with the director Reema Kagti. The credits for the dialogs are shared between Farhan Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap.

After the mindless films that preceded it during the Diwali weekend, Talaash comes as a breath of fresh air and bears a promise that Bollywood is not all about assuming that the audience is a collection of sheep waiting to be sheared.