Murder Mubarak Review: All-round watchable
Three days before election day at an upscale club in Delhi, members are shaken by the death of a grizzled Zumba instructor. Attempts are being made to dismiss the incident as a gym accident. But a seasoned police investigator, using unorthodox methods, sniffs out foul play and decides there’s more to it than meets the eye.
This is how Khun MubarakA caper film opens, a whodunnit with heart. Brilliantly edited and studded with performances that are in perfect sync with the spirit of the genre at large, it’s worth a watch all round.
With Assistant Police Commissioner Bhavani Singh (Pankaj Tripathi) scrambling for clues and clues, the Homi Adajania-directed murder mystery goes through unusual and therefore unexpected twists and turns that keep the Netflix film on a permanent boil.
Towards the end, the police describe what we just saw as a “strange” love story. It actually is. Khun Mubarak is not only about a romantic connection between two men, but also about a relationship that has a swish club where they descend in hopes of a momentary escape, if not actually washing away their problems and peccadilloes.
At another point in his investigation, Bhavani asserts that a killer is usually an ordinary person. The policeman says he (or she), is probably a club member who is congratulating himself (or herself) on getting away with murder at the moment.
Adapted for the screen by Gajal Dhaliwal and Suprotim Sengupta from Anuja Chauhan’s Club U To Death, Murder Mubarak presents a gallery of big faces, hunks, viewers, socialites, hunters and lovers, all of whom are on Bhavani’s list of suspects.
The man who dies, Leo Matthews (Aseem Gulati), turns out to have given almost everyone a reason to want him dead. Bhavani’s job is not easy, but she makes it a walk in the park as she, along with a skilled assistant, Sub-Inspector Padam Kumar (Priyank Tiwari), lays a trap and waits for the killer to enter. Express it and yourself.
Bhavani is far from other Hindi movie sleuths. He prefers not to wear uniform. He doesn’t even carry a gun. The irrepressible 48-year-old has a faint, all-knowing smile on his lips as he responds stonewalled with provocations and gentle promises. He is only ten days away from being transferred to Lucknow. His wife is dirty and dirty in Delhi.
Armed with sly humor directed against privilege, vanity and the empty bubble that the Royal Delhi Club represents, the story borrows methods familiar to fans of the detective genre to provide a commentary on what a status-conscious class believes is their birthright. .
Bhavani gets unsolicited help from a young widow Bambi Todi (Sara Ali Khan) and an activist-lawyer Akash “Kashi” Dogra (Vijay Verma), lovers who had separated years ago for unknown reasons. The latter is in Delhi for Diwali. He has lived in Calcutta for three years, during which time, his mother (Grusha Kapoor) believes, the man has picked up on his “commie” tendencies.
Doubts needle one way, then another, then another. Bhabani spares no one. His extensive radar includes Cookie Katoch (Dimple Kapadia), known for his tequila and beetroot cocktails; Roshni Batra (Tiska Chopra) and her son Yash Batra (Suhail Nair), a drug addict who is out of rehab; and Shehnaz Noorani (Karisma Kapoor), a faded film actress who throws her hat in the running for the club president.
Shehnaz’s rival is Rannvijay Singh (Sanjay Kapoor), a man from a royal family who never lets anyone forget his lineage. He is at home in a club where ayahs, servants, gunmen and security guards are not allowed beyond a point, and staff and waiters are barred from using member restrooms.
Workers at the Royal Delhi Club — where, outgoing president Devendra Bhatti (Deben Bhojani) tells Bhavani, heads of state have played golf — have their own ways of getting back at misbehaving members. One of the club’s oldest staff – Guppy Ram (Brijendra Kala) – has lost his mind but knows he can be of use to everyone.
And there Ganga (Tara Alisha Berry) works in the club’s beauty parlor. Her back story begins to affect the investigation as Bhavani gets closer to the bottom of the truth. What complicates the investigation is that while the killer could be anyone who ever had anything to do with the victim, none of the suspects are entirely evil. They are not the kind of people who would use murder as a weapon against anyone.
The death that begins Murder Mubarak is not the only incident in the film. There are three more on the way – a murder in the past, a suspected suicide in the present and a tragic accident involving a pet
The film is set in a world where the darkness of the soul prevails but director of photography Linesh Desai doesn’t overwhelm it with excessive atmospheric lighting. Most of the murders take place in the open but the film borders on a cocoon. Life on the streets and around Delhi is not part of the film’s visual palette.
when Khun mubarak Moving indoors, the frames are not overly gloomy and grim. Even lighting refers to the extravagance of the world that the club is within. This works against the complex, twisted knots that Bhavani must untangle.
Pankaj Tripathi’s effortless performance helps Murder Mubarak settle into a steady rhythm. Sara Ali Khan is a touch erratic, swinging awkwardly between being a seductress and becoming a woman with her share of secrets. Vijay Verma keeps it simple and flexible as he plays a man who is ill at ease with all the pomposity around him.
As part of the ensemble cast, Dimple Kapadia, Karisma Kapoor, Tisca Chopra and Sanjay Kapoor play their parts adding their collective mite to the jigsaw with just the right mix of playfulness and intensity.
Khun Mubarak Does not depend on action for effect. And the script makes sure the talk isn’t dull. The editing keeps pace with the pace of the investigation and the improvisation of the direction ensures that the film is never less than exciting.
