Talaash Movie Review

Talaash Rating: 4/5
Total Reviews 22
From all reviews from the web
Director: Reema Kagti
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
Cast & Crew: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Shernaz Patel, Rajkumar Yadav
Duration: 2 hour 22 minutes 

Showing 22 Reviews
Talaash Movie Review

Ratings:3.5/5 Talaash review By: Rajeev Masand Site:CNN IBN
Kagti (with her co-writer Zoya Akhtar) tells a gripping tale that operates on more levels than one. Not everything works, though. The twist in the end is cheesy, and isn’t too hard to see coming.What’s more disappointing than the twist itself is the manner in which the writers recap scenes to explain it, as if spoon-feeding those who didn’t get it right away.I’m going with three-and-a-half out of five for director Reema Kagti’s Talaash. Its shortcomings notwithstanding, it’s a good example of an entertaining commercial film that didn’t need to be lazy or senseless. Don’t miss it; easily one of the better films this year.
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Ratings:4.5/5 Review by Taran Adarsh Site:Bollywood Hungama
Though Aamir has portrayed the role of a cop earlier, he brings something new to the table with his spellbinding performance in TALAASH. The earnestness and authenticity with which he enacts his character cannot be expressed in a few sentences. That would be doing gross injustice to the actor's abilities, frankly. He holds the camera in every frame and charges assertively through the film, making you believe in Inspector Shekhawat's journey in entirety. It's a standout piece of acting, unquestionably. That Aamir is the best actor of his generation comes to the fore yet again! On the whole, TALAASH is an outstanding film. A taut psychological thriller that keeps you guessing till the end, it leaves you spellbound, leaves you mesmerized, leaves you with an exclamation, 'Wow!'. An absolute must watch for all movie buffs. You just can't afford to miss this one!
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Ratings:3/5 Reviewer:Anupama Chopra Site:Star World
To watch Talaash is to embark on a passionate love affair that ends in frustration because the object of your desire reveals itself to be shallow and depressingly ordinary. In short, a profound anti-climax. For once, I also feel the need to explain my rating: I wanted to give four stars to the first half and two stars to the second half, so it averages out to three. See Talaash and do post comments. I'm curious to see how many were as furious as me.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Meena Iyer Site:Times Of India (TOI)
Farhan Akhtar's dialogue has fire. But the story written by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti oscillates between real and implausible; making it hard for the screenplay to bridge the gap, especially in some key portions in the second half. At time the pace also numbs you making you shift in your seat. But if you average it out, Talaash is well-worth the price of a ticket.Tip-off: You may not like Talaash, if mystery and intrigue set at a languid pace is not what you look out for in your matinee outing.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Saibal Chatterjee Site:NDTV
By no means is Talaash the end of your search for the perfect whodunit. But there is so much going for this compelling, slow-burning, well-acted tale set in the dark, grimy underbelly of Mumbai that you can barely take your eye off the screen.This isn’t your average heap of cheap thrills designed to project a superstar’s crowd-pulling clout, logic and sense be damned. Talaash is a restrained, offbeat and occasionally beguiling shot at a genre that popular Hindi cinema seems to have abandoned to its own detriment.
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Ratings:---- Reviewer:Komal Nahta Site:ETC
On the whole, Talaash has a novel suspense angle and is an engaging and entertaining drama with a good emotional undercurrent. It will, therefore, be liked by the public and emerge a paying proposal at the box-office. Business in the big cities and good multiplexes and single-screen cinemas will be good but the film won’t find many takers in small centres, ordinary multiplexes and ordinary single-screen cinemas.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Sukanya Verma Site:Rediff
The greatest accomplishment of this suspense drama is the cast -- both immediate and extended. I cannot think of a greater compliment except no actor could have (or should have) done the roles except the ones who did. Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Subrat Dutta, Raj Kumar Yadav or Aditi Vasudev (Do Dooni Chaar's Payal) are all perfectly cast. Talaash is a riveting combination of sentiment and suspense. And it's certainly raised my bar for Reema Kagti as a filmmaker.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Aseem Chhabra Site:Rediff
In Talaash, Kagti weaves a complex web, and she colours it with the mood and the atmosphere she and her collaborators create. Talaash has the feel of a noir film -- a fine achievement for a Bollywood product, where the crisp cinematography by K U Mohanan and the haunting background score by Ram Sampath keeps us on the edge. Towards the end of the film, there is a big revelation. Obviously I am not going to spill the beans here. But at this point Kagti and Akhtar's script starts to falter. In anticipating that this revelation may confuse some sections of the audience, the film then starts to explain more than we need to be told, giving us hints, underlying situations. Despite that one big flaw, Talaash satisfied me. But I wanted more.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Puri Site:One India
Talaash is a delight to watch, because of the surprises it throws at you and by the power-packed performances by its cast. Though the first half of Talaash is a bit slow, it's still enthralling, absorbing and engaging. It is as we used to say in the old days - 'a total paisa vasool'. Your Talaash for a good film definitely ends here!!

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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Vinayak Chakravorty Site:India Today
The parallel subplots of Shekhawat's trauma as a bereaved father and a cop obsessed about cracking his case set up the backbone of the story. Aamir strikes a balance between the two tracks with trademark subtlety, the way only he can. Kareena Kapoor's Rosie is underplayed till a point. Although she seems ill at ease with the mannerism of a sex worker, Kareena adds the essential glam quotient. Say, can ghosts smell flowers? One scene in Talaash sure seems to suggest as much.

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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Saumya Sharma Site:BookMyShow (BMS)
There’s a feeling of love, pain, suffering and fatal attraction that connects everyone in an invisible chain. The beauty is that you feel a certain sense of empathy towards all of it. Reema Kagti’s work is impressive, it’s hard to tell that it’s come from a relatively new director. Although, one may find a few loopholes, you are reminded of the purpose behind the ‘perfect crime’ or the reason why a person does what he/she does. In the end, it’s all about seeking redemption, the procedure varies for every human being (those living and those unsure of their place of belonging). Old-school suspense flick, with a fairly modern treatment.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Roshni Devi Site:Koimoi

What’s Good: The nuanced performances; the enticing cinematography; the direction and music. What’s Bad: The pace; the slightly disappointing ending. Watch or Not?: Let the thrill and mystery sink in. Watch it for a different kind of film with much more than good acting, music and the thrill.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Mayank Shekhar Site:Dainik Bhaskar

There is one way to find out, and it would matter only if you’re interested at all to sit around until the end. The film is intensely gripping, good enough for you to wait it out. At this point, that is all that we need to know; and head to the theatre, of course.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Aniruddha Guha Site:DNA
There are times when you feel Talaash might fall apart, but it thankfully comes together neatly in the last 30 minutes or so. As much as the story hinges on the final revelation – one that’s supposed to jolt you – the journey itself isn’t too bad either. It demands an investment of time and patience, surely, but the pay-off is rewarding. How much you like or dislike the film will largely depend on whether the final twist works for you. It did for me.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Kanika Sikka Site:DNA
The plot of the film is what proves to be a real winner as it leads to a logical, yet questionable end. While the movie is slow before the interval as it tries to establish the plot moving back and forth in time, the second half will leave you scratching your head as you try to piece everything together along with the lead actor.In all, Talaash successfully whets the appetite of all the Aamir Khan fans. As for the story, you can always trust Zoya Akhtar to give her best. Talaash is not a flawless film, but it is a fascinating tale that compels one to look beyond that which is evident. You can’t miss this one.
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Ratings:2.5/5 Reviewer:Shubhra Gupta Site:Indian Express
The first half of ‘Talaash’ is good enough for you not to want to blink. The atmospheric thriller, top lining an angst-ridden cop, his hollow-eyed sad sack of a wife and a stunning street-walker, has you hooked right from its lovely opening credits. Post-interval, though, the tale-telling starts to stutter, the pace slackens, and the film becomes less than the zinger it set out to be.
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Ratings:4/5 Reviewer:Shomini Sen Site:Zee News
Writing and making thrillers is never easy. It has to be gripping, should engage the viewers and has to steer away from predictability. And Reema Kagti’s ‘Talaash’ scores in all these aspects. The film demands your patience as it establishes several characters in a leisurely pace and intertwines them beautifully into a story which makes an conscious effort to steer away from the clichés. Yes, there are few moments when the film tends to slack but soon enough a new twist demands you to sit up and concentrate properly on the film.Watch it for the story. That is the actual hero of the film. The brilliant actors are just an icing on the cake.
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Ratings:4/5 Reviewer:Rubina khan Site:FirstPost
Talaash’s story and plot is such that to describe any scene would be to give away the suspense. The story is real, enacted by extremely able actors, who make the movie thrilling, in just the right measure. Every turn surprises you, shocks you even, and has you completely involved in the story playing out on screen.It’s not predictable in the least, and that’s where Talaash scores high! In Bollywood, to make a film that has the audience on the edge of their seats is a huge achievement. And that’s what Talaash does. It gets you in, as soon as the first reel rolls, and holds you right till the very end
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Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Shweta Parande Site:Bollywood Life
Talaash is less about the mystery and more about the not-so-obvious factors – like coming to terms with the loss of a loved one, overcoming greed and fantasy, and beating the mind at its games, for instance. The movie needs to be watched at least twice to understand the subtext. It will grow on you. However, this one might not appeal to viewers addicted to reading crime and supernatural fiction, or international TV shows and films of the same genre. As a first for Indian cinema, Talaash must be watched. It might not be a mass entertainer, but it’s on the road to becoming a cult film in the genre.
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Ratings:---- Reviewer:Baradwaj Rangan Site:The Hindu
Like the one where Suri and his wife Roshni (Rani Mukerji, who really should stop slathering pancake on those freckles; she looks lovely here) go to a mindless Ajay Devgn entertainer – a world far, far removed from that of Talaash – to forget their troubles at home, only to find that life doesn’t always work they way you want it to. Suri, instead of watching the movie, amuses himself by watching his wife laugh, but when they exit the theatre, they run into a living-breathing reminder of the source of their unhappiness. (And that goes back, again, to an accident that occurred in water.) Kagti sticks to an even tone most of the time, rarely turning up the volume except in the emotionally loaded songs, so the dramatic showpieces, when they occur, are a punch in the gut. The quieter moments are equally powerful, like the lingering nighttime scene between Suri and the prostitute Rosie (Kareena Kapoor), filled as much with silence as dialogue.
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Ratings:---- Reviewer:NI Wire Site:News Track India
From the very start of the film, Talaash will make you glue on to your chair and you will not be able to leave it till the very end. There is a twist and turn at every corner still you cannot guess the end. Reema Kagti's treatment to the film is superb, there is no loop hole whatsoever. Story written by her and Zoya is the USP of the film. There never was and there never is any doubt about the acting of Aamir. He plays the role of a cop superbly. Rani in her simple role of a grief struck wife is wonderful. Kareena performance is amazing. Nawazuddin in his small role is nice.
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Ratings:---- Reviewer:Sneha May Francis Site:Emirates24by7
Talaash’ is an incredibly rousing tale of deceit, betrayal and revenge, set against the backdrop of an unforgiving city.It’s a story that forces us to look beyond the obvious, and explore the unknown. The narrative is slow, and intended, brilliantly capturing the essence of what truly lies beneath. Reema’s incredible genius lies in her ability to involve the audience without unveiling too much until the very end. And, it’s those few moments of revelation that’s the most riveting. Reema and Zoya have worked out the most enthralling suspense drama without succumbing to any Bollywood cliché. Even Ram Sampath’s striking musical compositions are played to accentuate the narrative and not puncture it.It’s by far the most honest movie in a long time.
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