Murder 3 Movie Review

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Murder 3 is a film about tests. We see the characters going through or putting others through a test of love. To the ignorance of the makers, the film gradually becomes a test of your patience and intellect. Ultimately it ends up cheating you. For starters, there is no murder in the film. None. Zero. What we see murdered is the filmmaker’s ability to think as what ends up on screen lacks any sort of conviction. This is the directorial debut of Vishesh Bhatt (Mukesh Bhatt’s son) who shows no promise whatsoever. The first hour is Sara Loren trying very hard to act. The second hour is Aditi Rao Hydari trying to rescue the film. For two and a half hours, Randeep Hooda is trying to be taken seriously. I don’t even want to bother calling it a bad film, it’s just a waste of celluloid.

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Star-Cast: Randeep Hooda, Aditi Rao Hydari, Mona Laizza

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Director: Vishesh Bhatt

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Producer: Mukesh Bhatt

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Duration: 2 hrs

The first hour of the film is lackluster and thoroughly uninteresting. It only picks up post-intermission but by then it is too late. Why? Not so much because of the plot. There is an intriguing plot twist during the second half of the film, which is set in motion by a Hindi-speaking British lady. Yes, any chances of you taking *that* seriously are diminished at the outset by this inane character inclusion. Surprisingly, I did start getting engaged (Hey, I’m human). I don’t want to reveal details of the plot because if you are actually planning to watch the film (I suggest you don’t), you will at least come out having seen one-third of what we call, a story. The silly characterization and terrible writing brings the house down. Although there is a bigger catch, the plot is obviously not original and taken from another film. Vishesh Bhatt carries on the legacy of his father all right.

I am a fan of the DVD collection of the Bhatts but not what they do with it. The first Murder had elements of Unfaithful (2002), the second one was a mix of the South-Korean stunner The Chaser (2008) to the masterpiece that is The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Murder 3 is copied from the Colombian thriller The Hidden Face (2011). You should be aware that if you want to watch this story, watch the original and don’t bother with the “murdered” version. I haven’t seen the original but I saw the trailer and it looks infinitely better. The British lady is supposed to be German in it. All right then. I guess I must have missed the part where history books mentioned the similarities between the Partition and the Holocaust. A bang up job of “adaptation”. (Heaviest form of sarcasm intended)

I’m still wondering what Aditi Rao Hydari was doing in this film. I wouldn’t be surprised if she is doing the same. She is clearly a good actress and could have chosen a better project to pursue a stronger career trajectory. Come to think of it, Randeep Hooda isn’t a bad actor either but he seems to be getting worse with each film. He should kiss the Bhatt camp goodbye and look for work elsewhere. The truly atrocious actor in the film is Sara Loren. Neither does she look good nor does she perform well.

The Murder franchise (if it can be called a franchise) worked with the audience because of three things. An interesting plot, eroticism but mainly Emraan Hashmi. Murder 3 offers none of these. No murder, no skin-show and no Emraan. I didn’t go looking for the skin-show for sure, nor am I a die-hard Emraan fan but I am the most ardent fan of a good story. There is a spark of a story in this film. It tries to take off but the complete lack of the filmmaker's storytelling skills ruin any chance the movie has to be called entertaining. Murder 3 is promoted with a tagline which goes “This valentine love will be murdered”. They are absolutely right.

Verdict: Love is murdered indeed. The love for my brain and choice in movies.
Ratings: 2/5