Kahaani (2012)

[kas]

"Kahaani" is a new hindi thriller we saw on our last night in Mumbai ("What's the next film starting here, let's pick that."). Well worth the visit it was too, an atmospheric, leftfield film with enough of a thriller template to keep us following but with a twist ending that took us both utterly by surprise (only partially because there was no subtitling).

A British based, very pregnant young Indian woman arrives in Kolkata, seeks out a police station and makes a missing person report on her husband. The policemen seem typically clumsy and incompetent, but one junior officer sets out to help the woman.

Little by little things begin to turn curiouser and curiouser. The few clues that can be found slowly lead to some murky inside plot within the gorvenment (as they tend to do in this genre I suppose). The second in command of the Secret Service arrives, and it takes a good while to figure out which side he is on. A contract killer (a real Character called Bob Biswas) begins to follow in the woman's footsteps. And then it gets really messy...

We later read that "Kahaani" was made on a shoestring budget, but it has turned into a box office succes that might well carry copies of it all the way to Europe. Or at least ensure a DVD release.

Apart from being a good thriller, Kahaani was also made as an atmospheric homage to Kolkata. Recommended, If you get a chance to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1wEeuAosNM

[Rob Hall]

Thanks for this kas, it sounds very interesting.