Murder 2 - Review

People who take pleasure in causing pain to others - there are loads of movies/TV shows based on such characters. The psychos might have an agenda, or they are just wired that way. Either way, for a seasoned, Dexter follower, brutal serial-killers are hardly a phenomenon. Then I blame the sex part of the sexual violence that managed to creep me out, regardless of however experienced I am in watching their trade. Murder 2 reaches out to the primal fear in the woman in me.

It might be a copy of another film or a dozen of them, I know not. It might have a dozen loopholes, and boy it does! But none of that matters. Your brain recognizes those gaps when it's watching the film, but it is just about processing the other sensations the film is producing. It can't be bothered with story details and such. I could go on about "how come he knows this?" and "why doesn't the police do that?" But if my skin is crawling with fear of the villain from scene one till end, the film has worked.

The film works only and only because of its villain. Now whether it is because of Prashant Narayanan or Pandey (the character he plays), I wouldn't know. They are so one with each other. After you are out of the theater, you might analyze that it's never clear if the serial killer is confused about his sexuality and/or is ashamed of it. You might also realize that the violence you just watched wasn't really sexual in nature, but that's the ambience the film creates.

I wonder if they had made these things more specific, how much more trauma it would have caused to my nerves. Being a person who doesn't enjoy such "thrill", I could also bear it only because Pandey didn't fit into my concept of a serial killer. He isn't neat in his work and he isn't careful. But I guess, there are more TV shows and films about only meticulous murderers than about the ones that got caught.

Murder 2 is different in that aspect too. We know who the murderer is and he gets caught pretty early in the film too. He's in police custody and we still fear him. Because of what we saw in the promos or because we are worried sick for the innocent young girl who's 2-minute backstory makes you feel sorry for her. It is not as much her backstory as it is Sulagna Panigrahi's performance that does that to you. Brilliant casting, that.

Which reminds me of Jacqueline Fernandez. Hah! I think the Bhatt's are brilliant with their marketing. They know their USP, and why the audience is _really_ here. They lose no time in making Jacqueline lose her clothes. And once that is done, they start with the actual story. And that's it. She doesn't have anything to do after the couple of steamy scenes. And Emraan Hashmi. Well he does have stuff to do after the said scenes, but like I said Prashant Narayanan completely chews the scenery.

Did I enjoy the movie? Hell, no. It is not at all my type. Did it achieve its purpose? Yep! It kept me uneasy throughout. And for the kind of people who are thrilled by such kind of violence, it might work even better. Does all of this make it a good film? While you are watching it, yes. But in hindsight, you see all the places it went wrong and wonder how much better it could have been. Anyway, like I always say, that would have been a different film though.

Ps. If you haven't figured it out yet, this one has nothing what-so-ever to do with the Murder.