The fight between the left and right wing has become so intense that it has reached the movie theaters. Some opportunistic filmmakers have turned this situation into profit for themselves by opening "hard-hitting files" that promise to bring the "truth" to the surface. People like Vivek Agnihotri, Sudipto Sen, and - based on the trailer of The Sabarmati Report - Ranjan Chandel appeal to the ideologies of the Right to achieve fame. On the other end of the spectrum, we have directors like Sudhir Mishra (Afwaah) and Pulkit (Bhakshak) who see their movies as an antidote to hate. Both sides are so busy pleasing - and "opening the eye" of - the Left and the Right that they forget to make a good film. Everybody with a voice (politicians, filmmakers, influences, podcasters, etc.) is busy minting money from people's emotions. Amidst this climate, someone like Hansal Mehta throws a bone toward the Left to cover up his incompetence. In The Buckingham Murders, Mehta and writers Aseem Arora, Raghav Raj Kakker, and Kashyap Kapoor do some shallow social commentary about religious conflicts and violence. A cricket match sparks a riot (cricket in India is seen as a religion, and so much bloodshed nowadays happens due to religious sentiments). Characters belonging to the Sikh community criticize the Muslims for teaching immoral values to their children. The revelation, in the end, suggests that your religion isn't your character certificate. Evil exists everywhere.
The Buckingham Murders doesn't use this subtext to elevate its text. Mehta's crime thriller has a dour mood, which is meant to be taken as a sign that you are watching something "arty," something "serious." Mehta might as well be saying that this film is not for people who want mainstream entertainment. It's for people who like to be affected by movies - who prefer depth. Twitter and a good deal of entertainment web pages are filled with absurd interpretations of the latest blockbusters. A movie merely needs to pander to a group's notions, and people will exert themselves to come up with "deep think pieces." Maybe The Buckingham Murders will also find such an audience - Kareena Kapoor Khan has a big fan base. However, the facts related to filmmaking will remain unchanged. The Buckingham Murders has an unexciting style and substance. Mehta observes the events like a documentarian but doesn't dive into personal details. He gives us a grieving mother, Jasmeet "Jazz" Bhamra (Kapoor Khan), filled with clichés. We get cutesy shots of her playing with her (now deceased) kid, and that's all the backstory she has. What about her husband? Don't ask. Parents? Well, she has a father. Detective Jazz is a pretty thin character. Kapoor Khan inflates this woman through her sad, sullen face. She asks for a transfer to Buckinghamshire and is immediately assigned a missing child case. You can be sure this case will help Jazz find closure - creativity isn't the film's biggest strength (it's simply not present).
Mehta's style is utterly conventional. He points his camera towards the actors, who dispense their lines with earnestness. Since the characters don't have much meat and the story is a tissue of threadbare clichés, The Buckingham Murders becomes an acting exercise for the actors. The tense images merely highlight the dramatic skills of the performers. The movie swiftly jumps from one event to the next, so we never really feel bored or tired. Still, this is such a lousy compliment. All the information is delivered through exposition. The background score drives every scene into your head. It leads you to believe that what you are watching is important and that there will be a thrilling payoff in the climax. This promise is never fulfilled - the movie goes out with a whimper. Some of Mehta's decisions are terrible. He inserts three songs into the film; all of them are mood-killers. When Jazz screams outside her house, a neighbor tells her to cry somewhere else. A comic touch like this puts a crack in the solemn atmosphere. The Buckingham Murders is what you get when a filmmaker tries to make an Oscar bait. But the movie is so static, so dull, so unexceptional, I doubt it will even get nominated for a Filmfare. Then again, anything is possible in a country where Jawan is considered a politically charged film and its star is called a "silent rebel."
Final Score- [3/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times