A Search Gone Awry

But when the going is good, Talaash is smooth, not so much because of its principal cast which does what it does: Aamir, Kareena, and Rani are star-competent but are not actor-stretched. Khan's bushy, lower-handle-barred moustache fits in, so does his frown, but his not being able to loosen up makes him feel the same right through; ditto with Rani, though she does get a nice moment or two; Kareena looks gorgeous but doesn't lift her part with a single nuance, or a flicker. In its better bits, Talaash lets us ignore its studiedness — the squalor of the red light area, the determined low-life lingo, the hard-worked cop-station back chat, the high-class homes of the rich and famous — and gives us a Hindi movie genuinely trying for a whodunit-cum-whydunnit.

Talaash starts out as a smart, well-written noir-ish thriller, and then slips between the tracks. Pity about the second half.

shubhra.gupta@expressindia.com

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