Movie Review: Murder 3

Hot bods, cold vibes

Surprise, surprise, Murder 3 isn’t more of the same. It is markedly different from the earlier two films of the series, steering clear of the surfeit of sex and sleaze that underlined the plots of Murder 1 and 2.

The film, an official remake of a Colombian thriller, allows the female protagonists just enough space for them to be more than mere seductive props. And the film has no maniac on a murderous spree.

That apart, the inevitable skin show isn’t entirely gratuitous here, and the storyline has a stable emotional undercurrent.Why then does it feel that Murder 3 isn’t quite the film it could have been?

The Bhatt camp’s latest foray into darkness and doom lacks the sting that could have helped it make a handsome killing. Murder 3 is an average suspense drama that barely manages to avoid sinking into manipulative slush.

Director Vishesh Bhatt, the scion of a filmmaking clan that has in recent times thrived primarily on franchises (Raaz, Jism, Jannat), is hard pressed to push the two-hour-long Murder 3 into top gear.

While the film has no dearth of visual flair or narrative style and the acting is of a consistently high calibre, the unconvincing story lets Murder 3 down.

Love, lies, jealousy and betrayal are the principal elements in this twisted drama about hot bods in the icy embrace of the unknown.

A wildlife and fashion photographer Vikram (Randeep Hooda) is dumped by his girlfriend Roshni (Aditi Rao Hydari), a Cape Town architect who has moved to Mumbai to be with the man she loves.

Suspecting him of infidelity, she vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a video message on a digital camera.

Vikram ends up in lounge bar to drown his sorrow. A barmaid Nisha (Sara Loren) lends him a helping hand. He falls for her and takes her home – a palatial pre-Independence era bungalow with a back story of its own.

The mystery deepens as Vikram’s new love begins to hear eerie sounds around the house, especially when she is in the shower or the bathtub. The windows rattle, the lights go out, the water pipes hiss, and the shadows lengthen. The poor girl is scared out of her wits.

The second half of Murder 3 – devoted entirely to the unraveling of the mystery of the missing missus – is more gripping than the first. So your interest is aroused and you do want to know where it will all end. That is half the battle won for the makers.

But the shock ending notwithstanding, Murder 3 is unable to draw the audience fully into its gloomy universe. The sinister air that hangs over the mansion in which the action unfolds is woefully thin and the fear factor never quite wraps itself around the film.

But all said and done, Murder 3 is anything but a complete washout. The first-time director clearly knows his marbles. Despite the weak material at his disposal, he manages to put together a thriller that has its moments.

He is aided ably by Hooda and Hydari. The former, staying within the limits set for him by the screenplay, delivers a restrained but hugely effective star turn.

Hydari traverses an entire gamut of emotions – from the coy to the seductive, the intense to the desperate – with effortless ease.

Verdict: Watchable, if not always riveting.

Director: Vishesh Bhatt

Cast: Randeep Hooda, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sara Loren

Rating:

5/10

Movie Review: Special 26

Movie Review: A good day to...

Post Comments

Movie Review: Murder 3

Previous Story

Next Story