RUSTOM: AN OPPORTUNITY LOST
Rustom is a baffling movie. The plot is taken from the sensational Nanavati case, which unfolded in Mumbai in 1959. The real-life story had love, heroism, betrayal, murder, adultery. It also had such moral complexity and power that it has been reworked through the decades for screen, stage and books. Two Hindi films – Yeh Raste Hain Pyar Ke (2001) and Achanak (1973) – have already been made on it. But director Tinu Suresh Desai’s take on this landmark crime is flat and uninspired. Rustom begins by proclaiming that it’s a work of fiction, but writer Vipul K Rawal unabashedly borrows the dramatis personae from the Nanavati case. We have Rustom Pavri, the decorated officer who comes home and dis- covers that his beautiful wife is having an affair with his friend. Just like Nanavati, Rustom fires three bullets into the man’s chest and then surrenders. He is tried before a jury. But public opinion, whipped up by a newspaper publisher, is on Rustom’s side. He is, one of the jurors says, an honourable murderer. Even details in the film come from the real-life crime. Nanavati’s wife was Sylvia. Rustom’s wife is Cynthia. Like the real-life lover Prem Ahuja, Vikram Makhija in the film dies wearing only a towel. The officer in charge in the film is Vincent Lobo – the real guy was named John Lobo. Tinu and Vipul take the framework of the Nanavati case and add a generous dollop of fictional tadka. It’s a compelling idea but the result is halfbaked. Rustom has flashes of power, which peter out too quickly. The screenplay is inert, especially in the first half. The second half, which is set almost entirely in a courtroom, has more vigour. The world in Rustom never fully comes to life because the characters don’t feel authentic. The women – Ileana D’Cruz and Esha Gupta – flit around in Fifties fashion. Still, Akshay cuts a dashing figure in his naval uniform. But his character doesn’t have vulnerability or an arc. The film is brave enough to give us a man who is so evolved that he forgives his errant wife. But instead of exploring the dynamics of this, we get lost in heroism, corruption and courtroom dramatics. And truthfully, the only thing Parsi about Akshay is his character’s name. The film is an opportunity lost.