Waste of time

Strong and Moving!

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

If you compare this to a regular mainstream hindi flick, its Citizen Kane. If you compare this to inspired-by-real-life thriller/dramas... then it flawed, unnecessary and anti-climatic.The movie tries, but ends up neither a who-dunnit, nor a social commentary, nor a movie that exposes corruption, nor does it sheds light on anything shocking.The movie is based on a botched investigation of a famous double murder. The investigation aspect shown in the movie is flawed. Even a regular audience member can point out mistakes and assumptions being portrayed as evidence that no one could think of. The corruption/botched up investigation aspect is lightly touched upon. Then there is a parallel track of Irrfan and Tabu's separation which seems completely unnecessary and idiotic. It does not symbolize anything related to the story and looks absurd.Performances are fine. Indian cinema has definitely produced such close-to-real-life now and then, so this isnt anything special. Irrfan Khan is a splendid actor who doesnt need my vote. But this seems like a cakewalk role for him. It couldve been portrayed by anybody. In fact, he looks like a caricature of his usual self. Konkona is another fabulous actress. But her character doesnt have anything special to do in the movie. That too couldve been portrayed by anybody. Seems more insulting to the genre and serious cinema if you take known actors to sell your movie.I wouldve preferred a thoroughly researched documentary than this.

Honestly I had high expectations from the movie as it casts genuine actors like Irfan Khan and Konkona Sen, that too directed by Meghna Gulzar. It exceeded by expectations in many ways. An intelligent, thoroughly researched piece that kept me engaged every moment of the film. It is unpredictable and not an overly 'tragic' looking film. The content overpowers the drama and human element. Irfan is effortlessly charming and witty, yet a hopeless character who comes an inch close to solving the case. It is one of those films that left me reading all wikipedia entries related o the real incident. Though otherwise humorless, Irfan's wry humor is a relief in few scenes. Konkona doesn't come across as an overly grieving mother, just as the script demands - leaving us wondering what the case really was. Though initially I felt she'd be too young to play a teenager's mother - the portrayal was perfect. Talvar doesn't have music to really speak of - but any prop like music was not needed to make this a great film. Lastly, I have officially joined Meghna Gulzar's fan club.

I have grown up watching many different thrillers on television, that includes the Crime Patrol TV Series on Sony TV which also shows cases and investigations based on true crimes and incidents.Talwar is a similar concept. This is a movie based on the 2008 Noida Murder case where a teenage girl and house servant were found murdered in their house and after a series of investigations by both the police officers and the CBI, the parents were convicted of the murders.This movie tries to cover up all the aspects of the case and how the investigations were conducted by the police officers and CBI and it is done well for the most part. The carelessness of the police officers is shown at the start of the movie and how poorly it was handled resulting in the loss of crucial evidence. The investigation conducted by the CBI teams is also shown where two different teams use different approaches to handle the case. Motives of the murder by both the parents and the servant's friends were also investigated. Although it is evident that the parents in this film are portrayed in a sympathetic light and they seem like the victims here. However, after reading about the original murder case, the parents behavior and the answers they came up with during the real investigation seemed very shady. The parents in this film feel like they were heavily victimized and the police just blamed them to cover up the botched investigations. Which is to an extent also true when it comes to the real case itself but the parents were also being very suspicious from what I read about the original case. Regardless of this aspect, the film's direction is very good, and it kept me on the edge of my seat to see what happens next, and what other turn would this investigation take. Acting wise Konkona Sen Sharma and Neeraj Kabi perform well as the victim's parents. Irrfan Khan is excellent in his role as CBI officer and offers some humor to the film, although I feel like his side romance story with Tabu was not needed in the film. The other actors are fine, the actors who play as servants could have performed better honestly, I understand the Nepali origin of their characters but the performances seemed lacking in some cases. The film concludes as the original case did with the parents being convicted although in the end of this film it feels like something was amiss and the wrong people were charged with the murders. Honestly we will never know, the decision has been made. Talwar is a great film with does a good job of portraying all the angles on the Noida Murder case on screen. Any fan of crime thrillers should watch this, even ones who don't about this case will entertained for this film's entire duration. Overall Rating: 8/10

Few months before RAHASYA released which also was based on the same real life case. But this film got an edge and also more acclaim. The film is brilliantly handled by Meghna Gulzar who ones upon a time gave us FILHAAL(2002) and what a comeback! The film keeps you on the edge throughout, all the twists and turns are well handled and several scenes hit you like a ton of a bricks. My only gripe with the film is the fun made on religion(the position of sex in a scene is shown as a religious way) which could be avoided. Other then that the film is superb. The film also makes you laugh at several scenes like the scene when Irrfan beats the cop and also later towards the end when both sides of the party argue.Direction is superb,Vishal Bharadwaj's presence does loom large throughout but yet she has done a good job Music is okayIrrfan Khan is excellent as always, he is one of the rare actors who gets into the characters so easily Konkona Sen Sharma is excellent as always, Neeraj Kabi is adequate rest are all good, especially Prakash Belawadi, Tabu has a cameo and is okay