Murder Mubarak review: "A wicket and wholesome whodunnit"

Murder Mubarak movie review

One Murder, Many Suspects - Homi Adajania's Murder Mubarak follows the rhythm of a procedural with heart and humor in the opening reels, but resonates with the impressive craft of the talented filmmaker when he unravels the dense plot.

Bhavani discovers that Leo who died while doing overhead bar-bell press under severe dope of a drug named Pinko, used to blackmail all his elite clients of the RDC - the ostensible C-grade actress of B grade films, Shehnaaz Noorani (Karishma Kapoor, underwhelming comeback), ultrarich, ultra-nosy Rosh Aunty (Tisca Chopra) , the helluva horny, Cookie Aunty (Dimple Kapadia), the megalomaniac Raja Ranvijay (Sanjay Kapoor) and a demented caretaker oldie, Guppie Ram (Brijendra Kala) and not to forget the ex-flames, Bambi Todi and Akash Dogra, played by Sara Ali Khan and Vijay Varma respectively.

Bhavani excavates their secrets with finesse and his much-better half and apprentice sub-inspector Padam and so does Homi in unshackling the entangled puzzles with a cynical gaze at the hypocrisies imbibed in the elite and iconoclastic south Delhi culture.

Homi's astute observations bring out prolific performances from the ensemble who are noteworthy with their striking antics. Pankaj Tripathi is brilliant and exercises his comic timing and command over eloquence in Hindi to the hilt. His scenes with Sara and Vijay exude sheer charm and originality.

Murder Mubarak final words

Love is the most clumsy and difficult puzzle. Bambi and Aakash's unfulfilled story turn’s out to be the film's breathing and seething soul. Sara is particularly amazing, navigating the arduous emotional terrain of a kleptomaniac young widow (Varun Mitra plays a cameo).

Karishma shines in one or two sequences of catharsis but I feel the actress deserved a better and meaty comeback. Tisca Chopra is exceptional and Sanjay Kapoor escalates the mood and mystery in his character to a notch higher.

I go with 4 stars out of 5 for Murder Mubarak. The film celebrates an unusual concoction of the young and veterans with a delicious, suspenseful streak.

Produced by Dinesh Vijan, the 2 hour 12 minute is streaming on Netflix from 15th March 2024.