KU MohananвЂ™s striking photography and Ram SampatвЂ™s haunting score lend a distinct texture to this film, as do the real Mumbai locations the film is shot on. Shekhawat internalizes his emotions for the most part, and Aamir brings volumes of depth to this troubled manвЂ¦that furrowed brow, the moustache, all adding to this remarkable performance.Дirector Reema Kagti employs a solid technical team to deliver a film that is rich in atmospherics and mood. ItвЂ™s Aamir Khan, in the filmвЂ™s central role, who not surprisingly leaves the biggest impression. Rani Mukherjee shines as the copвЂ™s desperate wife, investing her performance with a gamut of emotions, never once reducing the character to a pathetic caricature. Of the leads, Kareena Kapoor brings both oomph and heart to her role, despite the sometimes clunky lines she must mouth. The same is true of Shernaz Patel who shows up as a kooky psychic, and Sheeba Chadha who appears as a past-her-prime sex worker. Playing ShekhawatвЂ™s junior officer, it takes Rajkumar Yadav just one scene вЂ“ in which heвЂ™s merely a spectator with a single line of dialogue вЂ“ to show what a good actor can bring even to a small part. As Taimur, the limping odd-jobs guy in the brothel, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is terrific, inhabiting the role like a chameleon. Still, Talaash benefits from its crisply written characters and the exceptional actors who play these parts. WhatвЂ™s more disappointing than the twist itself is the manner in which the writers recap scenes to explain it, as if spoon-feeding those who didnвЂ™t get it right away. The twist in the end is cheesy, and isnвЂ™t too hard to see coming, but mercifully Kagti keeps the journey leading up to the big reveal engrossing. In spite of packing in many themes at once, the writers keep the film consistently accessible (and occasionally simplistic), but without вЂdumbing downвЂ™ the material. ItвЂ™s about relationships and love, and at the same time itвЂ™s a story that questions your belief in the paranormal. On the surface itвЂ™s a juicy suspense, but Talaash is as much about grief and surviving great loss. Kagti (with her co-writer Zoya Akhtar) tells a gripping tale that operates on more levels than one. As the cop spends long nights driving around the cityвЂ™s darkest corners in search of clues, heвЂ™s befriended by a kindly hooker, Rosy (Kareena Kapoor), who helps him uncoil the maze of this case. Himself straining under the burden of guilt since the death of a loved one, Shekhawat immerses himself in the investigation, even as his wife Roshni (Rani Mukherjee) wrestles with depression and loneliness. Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) finds himself sucked into the underbelly of the city as he investigates this case that is evidently more complicated than it appears. These ideas are nicely wrapped in a murder mystery, kicked off the night when a film star drives his car straight into a promenade and plunges it into the sea, killing himself. What Kagti conveys through Talaash is that this is a living-breathing strata of our society, and these people must matter вЂ“ they deserve humanity and compassion.

This is a side of a city we fleetingly encounter and yet it seldom registers in our lives. Crummy-looking pimps court prospective clients for their girls, an old destitute woman stares blankly huddled in a streetside corner, even as urchins tap hopefully on taxi windows. Wafting across the neon-lit signage of seedy bars, the camera pokes its head into the backrooms of brothels where prostitutes doll up before heading out to ply their wares. Cast: Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Kareena Kapoor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shernaz Patel, Rajkumar Yadav, Sheeba ChadhaД«athed in a noir-like moodiness, Talaash, directed competently by Reema Kagti, opens with a leisurely paced montage of Mumbai after dark.

Talaash movie theme music