There’s nationalist fervour and jingoism running right through this cinematic interpretation of the scandalous Nanavati murder case that rocked the nation in the 1950s.
You smell a rat right away. It’s at the entry of the naval officer hero Rustom Pavri(Akshay Kumar) framed against the tricolour fluttering away in the background. Director Tinu Suresh Desai reinterprets the(in)famous K.M. Nanavati case of yore and builds a popular conspiracy theory around it in the spirit of today’s uber-patriotic times, quite conveniently at that. Kumar, plays the Nanavati figure while Ileana D’ Cruz is Cynthia(the philandering Sylvia from real life) and Arjun Bajwa plays Vikram Makhija(the playboy Prem Ahuja).
"Kuchh to hai jo pakad mein nahin aa raha hai(There is something that one is unable to figure out), ” says the investigating cop Vincent Lobo(Pavan Malhotra) at some point. However, any marginally intelligent viewer would know where things are heading. Even though, the film itself very consciously tries to make a big deal of how much more there is to this seemingly simple, open and shut case of betrayal, jealousy and revenge.
Forget that there is nothing remotely credible or engaging in the thriller. The film, in fact, feels like a parody of the several murder mysteries and court room dramas we have seen down the ages. And an unintentionally funny one at that. Some moments in the second half are truly priceless, especially those that are to do with an orange dressing gown and a precariously held white towel that refuses to slip down the waist.
But, what is more irritating is the righteousness attributed to the killer protagonist – a virtuous Kumar, right down to the sanctimonious moustache and straight spine; then the overt guilt, perennially inclined head of Ileana and the talk of putting the Queen at stake in the game of chess, all for an eventual win. Add to that the “desh ki raksha/hifazat” angle and the double whammy of machismo of the Navy man—in the aid of the nation and the woman—and it gets way too smug for comfort. Kumar wrests the moral high ground, as a man, a husband and a much decorated officer. And the janta approves.