My Wife`s Murder

My Wife's Murder tries to take a peep into the mind of a married, harried man. So expect more of psychological explorations than exciting action in this "different" thriller. The hero is a stressed-out film editor, Ravi Patwardhan (Kapoor), who leads a dull life which is further deadened by a nagging, bickering wife Sheela (Suchitra Krishnamurthi) who constantly taunts him about an alleged liaison with the office beauty Reena (Sen). One fine day, he accidentally kills Sheela by just giving her a little push. She hits the corner of the bed and cops it. Instead of reporting it to the police, Ravi gets all flustered, parcels his wife's body in a TV carton and eventually dumps it into the lake. All this happens rather early in the film. And then, it's all about the run from the law and cat-and-mouse game with inspector Tejpal Randhawa (Irani).

The good part about the film is how it fleshes out its primary characters. Ravi makes an interesting portrait, guilty yet not entirely to blame for the accident and an object of audience sympathy. Kapoor digs into the role with relish and pitches in an effective performance. Ditto for Boman Irani as the food-chomping police officer. This eccentricity is used as a great tool to define him. And also makes the film stand out because very rarely does food feature as such a strong motif in Hindi films. The filmmaker is also able to use the element of irony rather well—like Ravi is chased by the inspector whose own wife is a shrew. Or the scene where the maid doing the dishes is juxtaposed with Ravi wiping traces of blood from the floor. You can't miss the humour. But such inspired moments are few and far between. Where the film fails miserably is in its plotting. Essentially it just moves on a single track with no twists no drama, no shocks and surprises, nothing to set the pulse racing. The tendency is to fall back on the jolting sound effects, sharp camera angles and tight close-ups to create an eerie mood without the script supporting it. The whole show falls apart with the tame end and you're left wondering what was the whole point in making the film. More so when its psychological explorations don't quite run very deep. mwm would have worked better as just a 15-minute episode in Darna Mana Hai.

INDIAN Top 5
1. Mangal Pandey: The Rising
2. Barsaat
3. Maine Pyaar Kyun Kia
4. Dus
5. My Wife's Murder

US Top 5
1. The Dukes of Hazzard
2. Wedding Crashers
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
4. Shy High
5. Must Love Dogs

Courtesy: Film Information