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Kasoor
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'Kasoor'

By N K Deoshi
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

Somewhere in the shadows there lurks a killer, a masked ‘clad-in-black’ sadist who has brutally killed a young woman and even left a message written in her blood—‘Kutiya’. Everybody’s usual suspect is her husband, the ‘Mast’ lad Aftab. But there is the gorgeous lawyer, Lisa Ray who thinks otherwise. And when the twosome get a bit cozy, a 'dangerous passion' begins as the young filmmaker Vikram Bhatt has hailed his latest flick Kasoor.

The film marks the debut of Lisa Ray and the second coming of Aftab Shivdasani. A murder mystery, Kasoor is a refreshing break from the stereotypical mushy romantic sagas of Bollywood.

Although

the core the film is loosely based on the Hollywood flick The Jagged Edge, its director Vikram Bhatt has convincingly spun a gripping yarn, punctuated it with unexpected twists and turns and concluded with blood curdling climax thereby leaving no loose ends to distract the viewers.

Vikram takes care of the zing factor via raunchy numbers that have Lisa, clad in slinkiest of apparels and oozing oomph.

Simran Bhargav (Lisa Ray) epitomizes the woman of today. A self assured person and an intelligent lawyer, Simran takes the case of a powerful publishing magnate, Shekhar Saxena (Aftab Shivdasani) who is facing the trial for brutally murdering his wife Priti Saxena.

Everyone is convinced of Shekhar’s crime. This includes the over inquisitive police officer (Ashutosh Rana) and the public prosecutor Nitin Mehta (Irfan Khan), but they have no shred of evidence to nail Shekhar. In these trying times Shekhar too shows remarkable equanimity and even hoodwinks Simran into believing that he is absolutely innocent.

Although a bold and confident woman on the outset, deep inside Simran is vulnerable and even carrying the demons of her past when she convicted an innocent man who later on committed suicide in the custody. It is partly this burden on her conscience that prompts her to believe hat Shekhar is innocent. She promises to fight his case on the condition that he would never lie to her. Knowing that only Simran can save him from the gallows Shekhar complies.

Simran has another admirer Amit (Apoorva Agnihotri), the wishy-washy chocolate boy who doesn't approve of the growing proximity between the two. Simran’s and Shekhar’s simmering feelings for each other grow into a violent passion and the two let go of their conscious resistance. The floodgates of their pent up emotions open and the lovers break their patience. Physical attraction before love is a reality and Vikram doesn’t shy of showing this openly and frankly in the film.

Anyway both fall madly in love with each other and by the time Shekhar’s innocence is proved the story takes an unexpected turn. As the mystery unfolds Simran alights on certain snippets of evidence, certain facts that brings to fore the hitherto unseen shades of Shekhar. Is he the killer of his wife? Did he trick her into loving him to escape the prosecution? The hair-raising climax will give you all these answers.

Considering it's her maiden tryst with the celluloid Lisa does pack in a commendable performance. With ease she carries herself before the camera, mouths the bombastic dialogues opposite the likes of Ashutosh Rana and Irfan Khan with whom she locks up in witty courtroom fracas now and then. But the fact that it is Divya Dutta who has dubbed for her brings some disappointment.

Aftab needs to improve a lot, particularly on his facial expressions. His bland visage and crass hamming simply foils all his attempts to dissemble his intentions. He seems to impress a bit when he speaks in sepulchral tones, although we will inform you that it is Vikram Bhatt’s voice.

Ashutosh Rana as usual impresses with his emphatic on screen presence while Apoorva Agnihotri still hasn’t matured from being the wimpish boy-next-door. Nadeem Shravan's music score is melodious and goes well with the film's theme, although the songs do distract one from the main plot.

An adrenalin savvy three-hour treat.

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