Kasoor (2001)
Starring: Aftab Shivdasani, Lisa Ray, Apurva Agnihotri
Director: Vikram Bhatt
Synopsis: Indianized version of Jagged Edge falls far short of the mark
Music: Nadeem Shravan
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

 

The film opens with what appears, for a brief moment, to be the Manhattan skyline sparkling at night, reflected across a calm stretch of water. Except that it isn't. We are in Mumbai, and the deception is immediately obvious—rather like the film's claim to originality, which it most certainly does not possess. The opening is suitably nasty, with a masked intruder entering a plush mansion and brutally murdering a woman as she lies asleep in bed.

The victim turns out to be the wife of newspaper editor Shekhar Saxena (Aftab Shivdasani), who naturally becomes the prime suspect. In fact, he appears to be the only suspect, and instead of developing into a genuinely suspenseful whodunit, the film quickly settles into being more interested in the romance that develops between its two leads than in constructing a convincing thriller.

Shekhar appoints Simran Bhargav (Lisa Ray) as his defence lawyer, a woman haunted by demons of her own. Years earlier, she had unknowingly sent an innocent man to prison after relying on fabricated evidence supplied by a corrupt police officer (Ashutosh Rana). Determined not to repeat that mistake, she throws herself into proving Shekhar's innocence, assisted by the earnest Apoorva Agnihotri, whose admiration for Simran clearly extends beyond professional respect.

Clad in swanky outfits, slit skirts and low-cut tops, who wouldn't want to hire a lawyer like this one? One imagines her practice ought to be positively booming.

Predictably enough, the attraction between lawyer and client soon becomes mutual. After much smashing of windowpanes, prolonged gazing and prefabricated passion, Simran finally succumbs to her desires and falls for the man she has convinced herself is innocent. All she asks of him is complete honesty. When she discovers he has withheld important information, she decides to withdraw from the case, only to be persuaded otherwise by her loyal assistant. She ultimately succeeds in proving Shekhar innocent and, without a second thought, rushes back into the arms of her lover.

Or is he?

Anyone remotely familiar with Hollywood thrillers will recognise almost immediately that Kasoor is little more than a carbon copy of the 1985 Jeff Bridges-Glenn Close thriller Jagged Edge, a far superior and infinitely more cleverly constructed film. Kasoor is an empty vessel with precious little inside it, and Vikram Bhatt comes badly unstuck with this effort.

This is particularly disappointing because he had previously directed the wonderfully crafted Ghulam. While there was some debate over that film's similarities to On the Waterfront, it was at least intelligently adapted into an Indian context. Before that came Fareb, itself based on Unlawful Entry. I never saw the original, but by all accounts that too was handled reasonably well. Kasoor, however, is very poorly adapted. There is virtually no attempt to Indianise the material or bring anything fresh to it.

The romance between the two leads is tepid, unconvincing and ultimately rather dull, dragging the film away from what should have been its central mystery. The climax, meanwhile, simply lifts another page from the slasher movie handbook, providing yet another reminder that originality is nowhere to be found.

Aftab Shivdasani is completely miscast. The role required an older, more experienced actor capable of conveying maturity and ambiguity. Aftab simply doesn't possess either quality at this stage of his career. There is more movement in his lazy lip than in his performance. He is wooden throughout and wholly unconvincing as a married thirty-year-old newspaper editor. Nor does he possess the effortless charm that Jeff Bridges brought to the original role.

Lisa Ray has the better part and certainly looks attractive, cool and composed in places, though oddly older in others. She makes a fair stab at the role and, for a first film, acquits herself reasonably well. Nevertheless, she is no great actress, and I cannot really see her blending comfortably into mainstream Bollywood. She remains largely unexceptional. Ironically, Apoorva Agnihotri, in his comparatively brief role, leaves a stronger impression than either of the principal stars.

The music is reasonably pleasant and should prove popular, even if the songs are neither especially well picturised nor particularly well integrated into the narrative. The background score serves its purpose and the cinematography is consistently attractive.

On the whole, Kasoor is a disappointing film, and Vikram Bhatt must shoulder most of the blame for squandering such promising material. Expectations were understandably high after Ghulam, and perhaps that makes this particular disappointment feel all the greater.