Talaash: The Answer Lies Within

<p>Late at night on a deserted road, well-known actor Armaan Kapoor loses control of his car, apparently trying to avoid something, and the car falls into the sea. Senior Police Inspector Surjan “Suri” Singh Shekhawat and his assistant Devrath Kulkarni begin an investigation. Surjan’s relationship with his wife, Roshni, has suffered after their 8-year-old son, Karan, recently drowned during a family outing. Surjan’s guilt causes him . Surjan learns that on the night of Armaan’s accident, Armaan was travelling with ₹2 million in cash, which is missing. Armaan had given the money to a blackmailer, a named Shashi. Three years ago, Shashi had performed a cover-up for Armaan and his friend Sanjay. Once he learns of Armaan’s death, Shashi takes off with the cash. Shashi’s friend, Tehmur, begins blackmailing Sanjay with the help of an , Rosie. Sanjay gets Shashi murdered. Roshni seeks solace from a , Frenny Mistry, who is in touch with Karan’s soul, though Surjan is angry and skeptical of her. One night, Surjan is propositioned by Rosie. He declines but asks if she can become an informant. The police find Shashi’s body, along with the blackmail money and a DVD. The DVD contains CCTV footage of Armaan and his friends leaving a hotel with Rosie. Rosie confides in Surjan that three years ago, she was picked up by Armaan and his friends, Sanjay and Nikhil. Surjan discovers that Nikhil has been brain-dead after the incident three years ago. Tehmur blackmails Sanjay into giving him money so he can give it to his girlfriend, a prostitute, for a better life. Sanjay gets Tehmur killed too. The police learn Sanjay is behind Shashi and Tehmur’s murders and arrest him. Sanjay confesses that three years ago, he, Armaan, and Nikhil had picked up an escort named Simran for Armaan’s bachelor party. The unlocked car door in the backseat opened by accident, throwing both Nikhil and Simran out of the moving car. Armaan and Sanjay rushed Nikhil to the hospital but, fearing a scandal, left Simran to die on the road. Sanjay had called Shashi to take care of her. Since then, Shashi has continued to blackmail them. Surjan re-watches the footage and is shocked to realise that Simran is Rosie. As he drives Sanjay to the police station, they approach the same road where Armaan had his car accident. Both men see Rosie/Simran standing ahead. In a re-enactment of Armaan’s accident, they swerve the car to avoid a collision with her, and it falls into the sea. Sanjay dies but Rosie saves Surjan. Surjan writes in the official report that Armaan’s death was an accident. He returns to the riverside place where he used to meet Rosie and uncovers her remains where Shashi had hidden her body. Remembering that he had been told that “the dead come to those who are troubled,” he gives Rosie a proper cremation. Now more accepting of the supernatural, Surjan finds a letter from Karan, penned by Frenny, in which Karan tells Surjan not to blame himself for his death and that he wants his parents to be happy. Surjan reconciles with Roshni. In a post-credits scene, two workers put a “caution” sign on the accident spot. Following the release of her first film, (2007), Kagti was approached to direct many films by several production houses. However, unable to find any films that interested her, she began working on a new script with her friend in early 2010. Speaking about it, she said, “Zoya and I thought of the story and co-wrote it. We do a lot of writing together. We are also best friends so it is fun and there is a huge comfort factor.” Initially, , and were reportedly approached to play the male lead but opted out due to differing reasons. Upon finalising the story, she approached with the script in November 2010 and he agreed to produce and star in it. Since the start of , there was speculation regarding the film’s title. In November 2011, Khan confirmed that the film was titled . In an interview with , Kagti revealed that a few months before casting Khan in the film, she had approached him with another project. Later, and were signed on to star opposite Khan. Prior to the start of , the actors attended and signed a . To prepare for a key scene in the film, Khan and Mukerji took swimming lessons. The principal photography for the film started in March 2011 with Khan and Mukerji in . For a scene involving Khan and Kapoor, it was reported that both the actors would shoot in a . However, Kagti dismissed it and explained that it wouldn’t be safe to do so. The scene was later shot at the on . The film’s second phase continued with the entire cast in and was completed by the end of August. The final phase was expected to commence the following month in with an underwater shot. Khan, who never knew how to swim, underwent rigorous training for this underwater sequence. He was trained for 3 months under a specialist trainer and went well prepared for the shoot. Due to visibility problems, it was cancelled and later filmed at an undisclosed water studio in London. The filming was completed by November 2011 after some of the remaining shots were executed at the . The soundtrack is composed by and penned the lyrics for all the songs. The music was launched on 2 November 2012 by . The album features vocals by Ram Sampath, , , , Ravindra Upadhyay and Rupesh. The song “Jee Le Zara” has a version. tied up with for its marketing. Aamir Khan promoted the film on the crime detective series The episodes were aired on 23 and 24 November 2012. Aamir Khan visited Lucknow to promote . Aamir Khan also appeared in a TV special show ‘Nayi Soch Ki Talaash, Aamir Ke Saath’ to promote . Aamir Khan also visited for promotion purposes. The premiere of the film was held at PVR Cinema in Mumbai on 29 November 2012. The film received a from the . Originally scheduled to release in October 2011, the film was postponed to its tentative release date of 1 June 2012. Media reports claimed that the reason behind the delay was due to the similarities with ‘s (2012); the director, however, went on to deny the reports. On 26 January 2012, along with a digital poster of the film, the first of was released in theatres. Due to Khan’s prior commitment plans with his , co-producer announced that the film would no longer be able to release on its tentative date as planned and would officially release on 30 November 2012. Pre-bookings for opened on 25 November 2012 in all multiplexes of India. was released in 520 screens in overseas markets, a new overseas record for an starrer; (2009) was released in 415 screens overseas. The estimate for the number of release screens in India is around 2500. In February 2012, acquired the distribution rights of the film for (US$11 million) whilst its satellite rights were sold for (US$4.7 million). After taking offense at Aamir Khan’s TV show (SMJ) for “projecting men in a bad light”, several men’s rights activists took up cudgels against his film. Virag Dhulia, the head of gender studies at a men’s rights community center, said “We are not against , but Aamir. We want to send out the message that he can’t portray a negative image of men.” It is further reported that most of the film was inspired by . received positive reviews from critics. of gave a score of 4.5 out of 5 stars and said ” is an outstanding film. A taut psychological thriller that keeps you guessing till the end, it leaves you spellbound, leaves you mesmerized, leaves you with an exclamation.” Akhil Rasheed of the who was partly responsible for the title of the film rated it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a “gripping, compelling psychological thriller supported by its stellar cast”. Aniruddha Guha of gave it 3.5 out 5 stars while commenting ” successfully whets the appetite of all the Aamir Khan fans. As for the story, you can always trust Zoya Akhtar to give her best. is not a flawless film, but it is a fascinating tale that compels one to look beyond that which is evident. You can’t miss this one!” Saibal Chatterjee Of rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, noting”By no means is the end of your search for the perfect whodunit. But there is so much going for this compelling, slow-burning, well-acted tale set in the dark, grimy underbelly of Mumbai that you can barely take your eye off the screen.” Meena Iyer of award the film 3.5 out of 5, adding “You may not like , if mystery and intrigue set at a languid pace is not what you look out for in your matinee outing.” Rajeev Masand of gave it 3.5 out of 5 while remarking “It’s a very watchable film but not an unforgettable one.” Aseem Chhabra for gave the film 3.5 out of 5, reviewing “In , Kagti weaves a complex web, and she colours it with the mood and the atmosphere she and her collaborators create. has the feel of a noir film. It is an intelligent film but falters towards the end.” Anupama Chopra of gave it 3 out of 5, stating “For once, I also feel the need to explain my rating: I wanted to give 4 stars to the first half and 2 stars to the second half, so it averages out to 3. See and do post comments. I’m curious to see how many were as furious as me.” gave 3.5 out 5 to and stated ” creates its chills primarily tapping into the dark side of the mind, which makes it an unusual Bollywood film. Any resemblance to and ‘s 1979 novella, , is purely coincidental.” Raja Sen for has given 2.5 out of 5 stars while adding that “Talaash is well made and strongly acted but is not as enjoyable to watch as it deserved to be.” Shubhra Gupta of rated the film 2.5 out of 5, remarking ” starts out as a smart, well-written noir-ish thriller, and then slips between the tracks. Pity about the second half.” gave 2 out of 5 and stated “See only if you believe that Aamir Khan can do no wrong. Otherwise you’ll be left with a sinking feeling.” stated that “It’s not like we haven’t seen anything like this before. If (2012) used a key scene from a film called (2004) as a final twist, uses one of the most abused endings of this genre.” stated that is a brave effort. Mainstream Bollywood movies try to keep it linear and uncomplicated. Directors avoid dealing with multiple strong subplots as might lead to a clutter. On review aggregator , holds an approval rating of 81% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. gives the film a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”. Rubina Khan of praised the film saying ” is where your search for a good film begins. Reema Kagti’s search for a loyal audience for her kind of cinema ends with , which seems poised to make some serious cash at the box office as a sure-fire winner.” Ronnie Schieb of reviewed “Thesping never falters – Kapoor’s enigmatic Rosie in particular tying the film together by her secret knowledge (the film’s revelation is a doozy). Khan’s glowering, repressed sadness may appear a bit one-note to American auds, his mustache tending to obliterate nuance, but his charisma is unmistakable. For the record, the title means “search.” gave a negative review saying “it was a mediocre Bollywood import”. British entertainment and media news website gave 4 out of 5 stars and stated is the perfect marriage of cinematography, cast, dialogue and direction, despite all the evident hallmarks of Khan’s own brand of brilliance, harking back to a bygone genre, the conclusion to the story might be deemed a tad too far-fetched for a modern audience. gave the film 1 out of 5 stars and said the film was plagiarised from (1999) and acted by . Rachel Saltz of wrote,” Shot with flair and control by the director Reema Kagti, “Talaash” works because it’s grounded in a visual style, the cinematographer K.U. Mohanan gives it a shimmering, Mumbai-noir moodiness and emotional realism and it keeps the performances reined in but also lets the actors strut their broody, praising Khan, Mukherji, Kapoor and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.” had a good opening at the multiplexes, where the collections were in the average of 65–70%. The opening in the single screens were low, at an average of 40%. The movie collected (US$1.5 million) nett in its opening day. The movie showed considerable growth in its second day, collecting (US$1.7 million) nett. The film had a good collection of (US$5.2 million) in its first weekend. The film further collected (US$740,000) on Monday. netted (US$7.6 million) in its first week. The film netted (US$2.0 million) in second week to make a total of around 810 million in 2 weeks. The film further netted (US$910,000) in its third week. According to , has grossed 895.0 million nett in 3 weeks and was declared a “hit”. added Rs. 7.5 million nett in week 4 taking its total to Rs. 902.5 million nett. The film’s final total was approximately (US$11 million) nett. had done excellent business overseas. had a $4.7 million opening at the overseas box office. In its second weekend, the film grossed $7.25 million and emerged a . further netted US$8 million plus in 17 days in overseas. final overseas gross was US$8.5 million at the end of its overseas run and was the fourth highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2012 in overseas markets. Rani Mukerji won the Best Actress In A Supporting Role at the South African Indian Film Awards in 2013.</p>