Movie Review: 7 KHOON MAAF – ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’

Based on Susanna’s Seven Husbands by Ruskin Bond
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Producer:Ronnie Screwvala, Vishal Bhardwaj
Written by: Matthew Robbins, Vishal Bhardwaj
Cast:Priyanka Chopra, Neil Nitin Mukesh,John Abraham, Irrfan Khan, Aleksandr Dyachenko, Annu Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Vivaan Shah
Music: Vishal Bharadwaj
Cinematography:Ranjan Palit
Editing by: A. Sreekar Prasad

C: Ek Baar Chalta Hai

This movie had so many expectations to satisfy but despite best efforts by Priyanka Chopra and director Vishal Bhardwaj it soars in some occasions and falls short on some counts.

Suzanna (Priyanka Chopra) is a rich woman who wears her heart on her sleeve and unluckily meets and falls in love with six wrong men one after the other. Each of her husbands has a disastrous shortcoming which leads to their deaths.

Be it the jealousy of Major Rodrigues(Neil Nitin Mukesh), drug addiction and unfaithfulness of Jimmy(John Abraham), abusive sadomasochism of Musafir(Irffan Khan), polygamy of Nikolai Vronsky(Aleksandr Dyachenko), blackmailing and opportunistic nature of Keemat Lal (Anu Kapoor) or the deviousness of Dr. Modhusudhon Tarafdar(Naseeruddin Shah). She is assisted in all of her murderous adventures by her faithful assistants Usha Uthup and Shashi Malviya.

The story of first five husbands is narrated by Arun(Debutant -Vivaan Shah) to his wife played by Konkona Sen Sharma and the last one by Suzanna to Arun.

The movie has a dark enigmatic appeal to it. Priyanka gives a sterling performance all through the movie exuding a deadly and irresistible charm. The male leads have very little to do and are completely overshadowed by Priyanka in the frames, the only exceptions being Anu Kapoor who delivers a very realistic and competent performance and Vivaan Shah with a promising debut act.

‘Darling’ and ‘Hey Mama’ are hummable songs.
The editing is crisp and to the point. The movie could not have been more compressed than it already is.
In the end Vishal Bhardwaj deserves the credit for creating such a dark and thrilling cinematic experience.

The movie is not the regular mirch masala which takes the box office by storm and may not appeal to some, but it does warrant at least one visit to the theatre.

A: Wah! Kya Film Hai , B: Paisa Vasool , C: Ek Baar Chalta Hai , D: Bakwaas , E: Poora time Waste