Kahaani is a Bolywood film that opens with a terrorist poison gas attack, in Kokata train compartment, that kills all the passengers on board. Two year after the incident, there arrives Vidya Balan, as a London-based pregnant software engineer Vidya Bagchi, in search of her husband Arnab, who she claims was supposed to have recently arrived in India from UK for work, and then suddenly disappeared. A young police officer Rana, supports her in following the leads that take her to National Data Center, where an HR Director trying to help her trace another employee, Milan Damchi, who she claimed closely resembled Arnab, from the photo that Vidya showed her, is suddenly shot dead. Another lead takes Vidya and Rana to a hospital where a doctor might have treated someone with similar and rear blood group as Milan Damchi, is shot dead, after Vidya made some inquiries. Vidya is relentless in her search for her husband and after couple of attempts on her own life and some information she discovers, she comes to realize that Milan Damchi might be the terrorist responsible for the gas attack and because of her husband Arnab’s close resemblance to Milan Damchi, Arnab’s life might be in danger. She steps up her efforts to find him, with the help of the police officer, Rana. Vidya is unaware that Khan from higher echelons of the investigation bureau has asked Rana to use persistent Vidya as a bait, to lead them to the terrorist, Damchi. As the plot thickens, there is more shoot-out, other deaths, computer hacking and towards the end the story takes an unexpected turn.
This thriller film is directed and co-produced by Sujoy Ghosh, Vidya Balan’s acting is once again superb, and not surprisingly the film has been a “super-hit” at the box office. This is yet another film that strikes a chord among people, who have endured terrorist attacks and often find the efforts by the government, lacking in ensuring safety and effectiveness. Most of the police officers, with the exception of Rana, demonstrated callous attitude to the plight of the pregnant woman initially, and when Khan arrived to investigate the issue, on behalf of the federal bureau, the callousness intensified. Khan felt little compunction in using Vidya as a bait, to lure the terrorist, even if it might endanger Vidya’s own life. Lack of compassion on behalf of the keepers of the law and safety of the citizens, clearly renders them less effective. When the force cannot preserve and protect goodness, then it becomes less effective in fighting against the badness, as people have less trust in them and are not willing to communicate with them, and share early signs of trouble.
This was an interesting thriller that keeps the viewer engaged and riveted as the plot thickens and the story takes many unexpected twists, with the trump card revealed at the very end. Highly recommend it and on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 as excellent), I rate it a 4 – simply because I like movies with social themes, better.
#1 by Kasthuri George on April 17, 2012 - 10:00 pm
You captured the essence of the movie in this. Good review Darshana.