Film’s gripping screenplay will keep audiences hooked

A MASSIVE explosion reveals an unidentifiable body and a hand with a distinctive tattoo on a wrist belonging to the husband of the prime suspect, who denies murder.

While being interrogated by police we find out that she had an arranged marriage to a simple man, cheated on him with a dashing relative, how the husband wanted to kill her and what led them towards rebuilding their relationship. The determined investigating officer suspects she is lying and conspired to kill the husband with the help of her lover, but is there more to the murder than it seems?

The murder mystery recently premiered on streaming site Netflix and has enough to keep you interested until the end. That is largely thanks to Kanika Dhillon’s well-written screenplay and standout performances from the two lead stars. Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey deliver terrific turns as the married couple, who may have murder on their minds. They go through a range of emotions with multi-layered performances that are like a master class in acting and have magnetic screen presence. Aditya Srivastava, who has played a police inspector multiple times on television, is also marvellous in his role as the investigator.

What prevents the gripping screenplay from reaching its undeniable potential is a director who adds too much Bollywood cheese into the spicy mystery with silly background music, unnecessary song breaks and extra scenes. A much better director could have turned this into one of the best Bollywood films of 2021.

Thankfully, great lead performances and the strong storyline are good enough to keep you gripped until the end. Haseen Dillruba is a great Hindi film to add to your watchlist and different to formula driven Bollywood releases.