Director- Jeethu Joseph
Writer- Oriol Paulo
Cast- Rishi Kapoor,Emraan Hashmi, Vedhika, Sobhita Dhulipala
In a nutshell:
The Body is a slow paced mystery thriller that is smart enough to misguide you to incorrect assumptions and then delivers an unpredictable climax but falls short of being brilliant because of a weak screenplay.
Plot:
Police investigator Rawal (Rishi Kapoor) is called in to investigate about a body that goes missing in the middle of the night from a morgue.
The woman who had died was Maya( Sobhita Dhulipala),a wealthy businessman woman. Her husband Dev(Emraan) is called in for investigation.Rawal has a strong hunch that it was a murder. Dev is resisting this theory and hiding desperately the truth and his relationship with his girlfriend Ritu( Vedhika).
But things get murky when Dev starts receiving clues and messages that Maya is alive Or Someone out there knows his secret and is hell bent on implicating him.
Is there a supernatural angle? Has Maya duped her death and is being helped by someone ? Or she’s planned all of this while faking her death? Or Is it just Dev’s guilt psychosis ?
The story meanders through all happenings of one fateful night and takes you through all of above theories prodding you to make your assumptions and guesses…. before delivering its own climax .
What’s good :
The basic plot is obviously the best part. It is sufficiently engaging though a little slow. It is intriguing and has a lot of potential to keep you guessing and calculating.
The climax manages to catch you completely unaware. You delightfully realise that you were being led to a certain theory only to lead you elsewhere finally.
The build up and opening was pretty impressive including camerawork.
What could’ve been better :
What prevented this film from being a brilliant thriller was the weak screenplay.
For a plot that focuses on just a few characters, few places and few hours, proceedings should have been watertight. But there seemed to be loopholes in logic. The pace was sluggish. Too many songs that were not needed.
The dialogues( which matter a lot in such a plot) seemed lacking and unimpressive. Surprisingly, the performances also seemed very average for the level of actors they had.
The Missed Opportunity:
I am surprised, as it, being an official remake, should have been at par if not better. After all ,they had a ready-made premise to work upon and a fabulous star cast. I think it was an opportunity missed.
Definitely expected something better from the man who wrote and made the original Drishyam. Or is it that Nishikant Kamat did a better job at hindi version ?
Recommendation :
Overall , it can be a good one time watch for thriller / mystery lovers. Do not expect to be wowed. The film is definitely engaging and keeps you guessing only to trump you. The climax makes up for some of the shortcomings.
Score 6 on 10.