Chehre Review: Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi give new-age twist to old-school murder-mystery genre

By Nishant A Bhuse

on August 26, 2021 06:00:32 PM

Film: Chehre

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi, Krystle D'Souza, Rhea Chakraborty, Siddhanth Kapoor & Annu Kapoor

Director: Rumy Jafry

Rating: 4 Moons

To give a new-age twist to the old-school genre of murder-mystery, Rumy Jafry is here Chehre. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi, Krystle D'Souza, Rhea Chakraborty, Siddhanth Kapoor, Annu Kapoor, Samir Soni, Dhritiman Chatterjee and Raghubir Yadav, the film makes for an edge-of-the-seat watch. Based on an 80-year-old man with a penchant for a real-life game with his group of friends, the film showcases how they conduct a mock trial and decide if justice has been served, if not they make sure justice is served.

The 2-hour-19-minute film begins with Sameer Mehra (Emraan Hashmi) travelling from Shimla to Delhi by taking a shortcut on snowy peaks. When his car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, he has no option but to knock on retired Justice Jagdish Acharya’s (Dhritiman Chatterjee) door. Sameer introduces himself as an ad agency executive. What starts off as a normal conversation between the two, takes a U-turn when Acharya along with his friends, the retired prosecutor Lateef Zaidi (Amitabh Bachchan), defence lawyer Paramjeet Singh Bhuller (Annu Kapoor) and hangman Hariya Jatav (Raghubir Yadav), invite Sameer to a game.

After asking Sameer about his personal life and his girlfriend Natasha Oswal (Krystle D’Souza), Lateef, Hariya, Jagdish and Paramjeet trap him in a real-life game of crime and justice. The game which is introduced as a mock trial in the film resembles the board game Clue. Sameer, who is asked to play the role of the criminal, finds it interesting at first but soon starts to feel trapped. He even warns siblings Anna (Rhea Chakraborty) and Joe (Siddhanth Kapoor) but in vain. What happens next is a series of interesting and thrilling events that take place in Sameer’s life controlled by Lateef.

The premise of the film is clear – if you have committed a crime, you will pay for it in this life only. And well, the film proves it with its suspenseful and interesting ending. Chehre is a drama-mystery that was missing from Bollywood for a long time. The film is made for audiences with the right intellectual level as it entangles them into a web of truth, lies, crime and justice. While the film manages to keep it together, it may not entice masses largely. Chehre, without a doubt, could have been a greater and better release on OTT.

Emraan Hashmi and Amitabh Bachchan carry the film on their shoulders with full power. With not a single kissing scene in the film, Emraan takes over completely on the merit of his acting. Big B steals the show with a 14-minute long monologue, which he delivered in one take and penned himself. It reminds us of the one in his 2016 film Pink.

Krystle D'Souza makes an impressive debut and showcases her acting skills. Annu Kapoor and Dhritiman Chatterjee are brilliant but that otherwise great actor Raghubir Yadav finds his role is not fleshed out. Rhea Chakraborty goes about with mystery on her face. Siddhanth Kapoor has nothing great to offer though.

Rumy Jafry’s direction is near perfect. Despite making an intellectually powerful film, Rumy sticks to simplicity. The filmmaker, known for light-hearted fare, hits it out of the park with a murder mystery like Chehre. Ranjit Kapoor and Rumy’s dialogues are impactful. Cinematographer Binod Pradhan efficiently captures the essence of the film despite it being based in a bungalow majorly. Bodhaditya Banerjee creates mystery and a thrilling experience with his editing. Music by Clinton Cerejo and songs by Vishal–Shekhar and Gourav Dasgupta keep the film going in the right direction. Chehre also sees Amitabh Bachchan return to poetry after several years for its title track, composed by Vishal-Shekhar.