High time villains watched more Hindi films.
In the climax, the hero would confront the villain after losing the battle. The villain would laugh and tell him all the evil things he did and then taunt him for having no proof. And suddenly, from behind the curtains, police would surround them and tell the villain: You are under arrest.
After video cameras became popular, there was no need for the cops to hide behind the curtains in the villain’s house. The hero had to just ask his friends to shoot from the window before the villains would chase them all the way to court and send goons to destroy that evidence.
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And once cameras became part of the phone, sting operations became easier and the villain’s confessions would be beamed live.
Unfortunately, Dr. Asthana, the evil doctor from Ankur Arora Murder Case, hasn't seen too many Hindi films.
And unfortunately for the makers of this film, we have. So has the audience.
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It was a laugh-out-loud moment in the theatres as a character surreptitiously turns on the camera on her Blackberry phone to tape the villain’s admission of guilt.
The tragedy is that Kay Kay Menon is fantastic in this scene. He transcends bad writing and makes us believe what he’s saying: “I’m God”.
Ankur Arora Murder Case is full of such moments where the actors have poured their heart and soul into badly written, half-baked roles. The clichés of the Bollywood format make you cringe — villain sending goons to destroy evidence, evil doctor who smokes and takes pills, evil lawyers who cheat on their wives and get their mistresses aborted, witnesses turning hostile, unwarranted songs interrupting flow, etc.
The first half sets up the case reasonably well with details of what exactly transpired, even if the good versus evil is reduced and simplified to: You are with me, or against me.
At least, if the film was called Ankur Arora Medical Case , you would keep watching hoping Ankur Arora lives. Here, you know it is the story of a kid who dies right from the title.
Yet, the actors make it somewhat watchable. Tisca Chopra will make your eyes well up, Kay Kay almost convinces you he is right, while Arjun Mathur, Vishakha Singh and Paoli Dam play their roles with restraint.
But once the makers rain clichés on us in the second half, you begin to wish you were Ankur Arora. He got to leave by interval.
Genre: Drama
Director: Suhail Tatari
Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Arjun Mathur, Vishakha Singh, Tisca Chopra, Paoli Dam
Storyline: A hospital tries to cover up medical negligence as 0the mother who has lost her son fights for justice
Bottomline: Terrific performances, terrible scripting