RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL ARTIST

Missing

STARRING Manoj Bajpai, Tabu, Annu Kapoor

DIRECTOR Mukul Abhyankar

HHHHH

That face is the map of the human heart. No one does it like Tabu. Not when she sets her heart to it. After seeing her mis t’s act in Golmaal Returns, what a blessed relief to see Tabu back in form in Missing

This time, she plays a distraught mother who on a visit to Mauritius ends up with her little daughter kidnapped. Nothing in Missing is as it seems. In pursuit of an ever-renewable suspense, Mukul Abhyankar’s writing lapses into the ludicrous.

The twists and turns in the plot are meant to startle in a very ‘boo’ kind of way. And some of Manoj Bajpai’s efforts are just not up to the mark. You see Manoj playing a sleazeball with a roving eye, for a large part of the lm he has to play a man trying to convince the cop

(Annu Kapoor, playing the Mauritian law enforcer with a remarkably researched rigour) that his lies are the truth.

In other words, a good actor doing a bad job of bad acting.... Complicated? But just the way Abhyankar wants the set-up. At every step he plants a red herring so red, one feels as though one is walking through a blood-soaked mine eld. Except that there is never an explosion.

In fact, the feeble writing and the unconvincing situations would have done the strained suspense in were it not for Tabu’s magni cent performance.

Playing a grieving mother whose emotions can’t be trusted, she brings a persuasive candour to her role. That face is lit up like a languorous lantern, situational and slapstick.

Writer Parveez Sheikh is merciless in creating one dif culty after another for his characters who are eventually shown as mercenaries. Every character is well-written, and there are long, sustained sequences in each artist does his or her best. While the rst half is slow, the second half is better-paced. The curious thing is, the lm more or less deserves the build-up to pile on complications and dark coincidences. Nevertheless, one may complain that the latter developments are simply too implausible and tedious to sit through. Irrfan does have a strong and particular screen presence. He is impressive and relatable. He can play tender and he can play smart with a poker face, two notes that he juggles well with. He moves around a lot seeming restless on screen.

Kirti Kulhari, as Dev’s unapologetic, cheating wife, gives a restrained but effective performance. But the actors who steal the show are Arunoday Singh and Divya Dutta. The husband-wife duo play an odd couple, she as the boisterous wife, Dolly Verma and he as the henpecked husband Rajit, who is literally treated like a dog in his house. Arunoday reminds one of big Moose from Archies comic and plays his part with his ‘duh’ expression to a tee. In fact, he shines with his performance and is de nitely one of the plus points of the lm.

The others in supporting cast who are brilliant as well include Prabha Ghatpandey as Anuja Sathe, Dev’s opportunistic colleague, and Pradhuman Singh as Dev’s con dante in his of ce.

Omi Vaidya as Dev’s boss marketing toilet paper in India is stereotyped and though he does offer some seriously funny moments, he lacks lustre.

Neelima Azeem in a guest appearance as Dolly mother is wasted. And Urmila Matondkar in a forgettable item number is an eyesore. Overall, with elegant production values the lm does rise over its absurdness and is worth a watch.

Troy Ribeiro

thanks to cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee, who brings more life to Tabu’s face than all the aqueous shots of sun-soaked Mauritius put together.

The lm is worth a watch only because of her. Whether it’s the scene where she’s responding to the cop’s grilling questions or the one where she crumbles under the gaze of masculine censure, proves is nest talents of our times. Any times, really.

If you are a Tabu fan, chances are you’ll nd it easier to handle the incongruities that surface throughout the lm. If not, the going might get tough for you..

Subhash K Jha