By Murtaza Ali Khan
Every time a film presents different
versions of the same story, the film critics can’t help but compare it to Akira
Kurosawa’s “Rashomon” (1950). A couple of examples that come to mind are Rakhi
Gulzar’s “Talvar” (2015) and Sudhir Mishra’s “Inkaar” (2013). In Abhay Chopra’s
“Ittefaq”, a remake of the 1969 film of the same name, we learn that a famous
author is charged for committing two murders on the same night: his wife and a
lawyer whose house he accidentally breaks into while trying to escape. Throughout
the interrogation the author maintains that he is innocent. However, his
account of what actually happened that night completely differs from the account
of the dead lawyer’s wife. Now, all those who have compared Ittefaq with Rashomon
are clearly missing the point. The fact
of the matter is that in Rashomon, Kurosawa never makes an attempt to lead the
viewer. He merely shows us the same event from four different points of view. Rashomon
doesn't feed us with lies, only the different faces of truth. Ittefaq, on the
other hands, keeps feeding us with lies and the director seems quite invested in
them. Alas, even the lies are not good enough to be deemed believable!
When a Rohit Shetty no-brainer
like “Golmaal Again” (2017) tells you “Iss Diwali Logic Nahin Sirf Magic” you
can perhaps afford to suspend logic but when a murder mystery aka whodunit
expects you to forget about logic then you just can’t help but question the
competency of the makers. Now, a leading film critic has written about the film:
“Ittefaq is that rare Bollywood creature: a smart, gripping whodunit which
keeps us guessing.” While the critic is quite correct about Ittefaq being gripping,
calling it smart would be a grave misjudgment. In Ittefaq’s big reveal towards
the end, the killer, minutes before boarding an international flight, confesses
to the investigating officer during a telephonic conversation and offers a
detailed account of the chain of events leading to the crime. The officer is so
thrilled to hear the killer’s exhilarating account that he just doesn’t seem
interested in exercising the protocol needed to prevent the airplane from
taking off. If that’s not difficult enough to digest then just imagine how come
the police, during the course of investigation, can’t figure out that the
author’s wife happened to be a client of the lawyer’s. Isn’t this connection
the key to solving the two murders? How come an investigative officer who is smart
enough to trace the hidden murder weapon is unable to figure out this basic fact?
The film very conveniently tries to mislead us for nearly two hours, only to
set us up for one lofty final twist in the vein of The Usual Suspects, merely
adding insult to injury.
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| Akshaye Khanna in Abhay Chopra's Ittefaq |
Whenever one speaks of crime and
investigation a reference to Sir Authur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is inevitable.
“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the truth,” says the super-sleuth in the short
story titled “The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier” (1926). Ittefaq fails to
pay any heed to this basic science
of deduction. The end result is an average whodunit that seems to have
little regard for the viewer’s intelligence. Another time tested tool to assess
suspense thrillers is to watch them a second or a third time. While films like “Murder
on the Orient Express” (2017), “Gone Girl” (2014), “Teesri Manzil” (1966), “Manorama
Six Feet Under” (2007) and “Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!” (2015) would hold up
well on subsequent viewings, an average film like Ittefaq is most likely to
struggle whiling trying to hold the viewer’s attention during a second or a
third viewing. In comparison to the remake, the original, directed by Yash
Chopra, is more than capable of holding the viewer’s attention on subsequent viewings,
even after all these years.
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| Sonakski Sinha in Abhay Chopra's Ittefaq |
Usually it’s the movie’s plot and
performances that can make is worthy of subsequent viewings. The editing,
direction, cinematography and background score can of course immensely add to
the overall experience. Take the case of
the Shekhar Kapoor and Karan Razdan directed detective television series “Tehkikaat”
which used to air on Doordarshan during the mid-90s. While the performances were
a wee bit melodramatic and the plots often lacked the brilliance of a Sherlock
Holmes or a Byomkesh Bakshi, the chilling background score and the camerawork
added a different layer of mystery. It’s a bit perplexing to think why the
makers, especially given its co-produced by Dharma Productions, Red Chillies
Entertainment, and B.R. Studios, didn’t focus on at least getting a strong
background score in place? With the exception of Akshaye Khanna, Ittefaq is
also quite average on the acting front. While Sonakshi Sinha has her moments in
the movie, Sidharth Malhotra looks a bit flat. But he alone can’t be blamed for
it, for an average part requires an above-average actor. Given his limitations as a performer, Sidharth
seems to have tried his best but unfortunately on this occasion his best just
doesn’t turn out to be good enough. Ittefaq offers promise to begin with but
ultimately it fails to leave any lasting impact. The film can serve as a decent
way to spend your free time when you have nothing better to indulge in and that too only as long as you can do away with any
logical thinking.
Rating: 4/10
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
Ittefaq - Official Trailer (YouTube)
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very nicely reviewed. I have read how people were disappointed after watching this movie. While I agree that a mvie should be watched like one and not a documentary, the makers think its easy to fool the audience. Hence what they make come out as plain stupid. Why shouldn't audience look for logic? After all its a murder mystery and not a no-brainer-comedy. I agree with your points and like your review.
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