Subho Mahurat (2003)

Who payed the critics

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A Brilliant Conflict

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

I have seen "Mirror Cracked" with Elizabeth Taylor in the actress role. I really thought the director would give some twist or make it more interesting.I am not a Bengali but quite interested to see the creativity in their movies.On the contrary it was very boring and slow.Why is the cop more interested in dating a prime witness(in fact the last person to see the victim alive) a journalist rather than solving the case?Isnt it unethical in the first place? Why is Nandita Das shown as so immature and foolish that obvious hints cannot be understood by her but have to be interpreted by her aunt Rakhee? Some of the characters are written with no logic.A lady who has been dumped by a man despite having a very sick child restarts her affair after getting money from someone else to treat the child.An actress who has a serious drug problem is hired for a lead role despite the director hating her. I have never been a fan of Rakhee but she did justice to the role. But between Sharmila Tagore and her, I felt Sharmila Tagore was the better actress.

This day and age? Difficult to see why a novel that formed the basis for a popular (if not very good) American film in the 1980s and an excellent British television adaptation in the nineties should somehow have become so antiquated in 2003. Agatha Christie novels never work terribly well as whodunnits in film versions since it is almost impossible to duplicate in a film the devices she uses so superbly to fool readers in her novels. What Rituparno Ghosh has done is something very clever indeed. He has rewritten the piece so that in effect the whodunnit elements become less important and the psychological elements of the story (never a particular strongpoint with Christie) are much enhanced. The adaptation to an Indian situation is extremely adroit and all in all this is quite the best film (as opposed to television) adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel that I have ever seen (and I think one way or the other I have seen most of them).

Yeah!I am very big fan of Agatha Christie and when i first heard of an Indian(Bengali) version of 'The Mirror Crack'd from side to side' i practically winced.Having seen the one with Liz Taylor & Rock Hudson with Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple i was wondering what Mr.Ghosh, the director had to offer in this Indianised version of a classic.The result is nothing short of amazing as Mr.Ghosh rewrote the entire novel in an Indian context and suitably indianized the characters to make the movie thoroughly entertaining.The casting was a stroke of genius by bringing in the legendary Sharmila Tagore to play Marina Gregg.The story has been altered in places in such a way which makes more sense from the Indian point of view. Also Rituporno managed to avoid the 'Costume Drama' like feel of the Liz Taylor version.Viola!We now have a story which we can relate to.The end result is superb due to the fact Rituporno is one of those filmmakers who know how to tell a story and edit well enough to keep the flow of the tale.I am glad that he attempted this movie and hopefully i would love to have a Bengali version of '4:50 from Paddington'.Well done!Rituporno. Keep up the good work.

In the current era of Bengali cinema, where often the average wit required to endure a 3 hour torture is less than a 3 year old's, this Rituporno whodunit comes as a fragrant zephyr. In fact, unlike some other critically acclaimed movies made by Rituporno (like Raincoat), this one is well-paced, and holds the audience till the very end.Granted it is taken from the Miss Marple story 'The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'. But for someone who has NOT read Agatha Christie to a great extent, this will truly be worth the ticket. Again, for the ones like us, who have been die-hard Christie fans since our teens, we should know pretty well how difficult it is to make a screenplay out of a Christie novel. Simple b'cos her stories have the psychological treatment much more than actual actions. This is where Rituporno excels. He has got a fantastic script, acted out by brilliant actors, and what we get in the end is a true treat.A very good Bengali film after a L-O-N-G time.