The Body scores with superb performances and a thrilling story, feels Moumita Bhattacharjee.
The Body is a remake of Spanish film-maker Oriol Paulo's film of the same name. His superb thriller The Invisible Guest was remade as Badla earlier this year.
The trailer earned applause and that gave one hope about the film.
Of course, it's always a pleasure to watch Rishi Kapoor on screen.
Thrillers are hard to come by in Bollywood, and it makes this film special.
So does it keep you hooked?
Yes and no.
The story is about Maya Varma (Sobhita Dhulipala), an affluent businesswoman.
She is murdered and her body goes missing from the morgue.
Her marriage with Ajay Puri (Emraan Hashmi) was on the rocks, and the film gets straight to the point by baring Ajay's intentions. He always had the motive and intention to end Maya's life. Having a girlfriend -- played by Vedhika -- doesn't help his case either.
Once the body goes missing, Rishi Kapoor's SP is called in. He is convinced that Ajay is behind the murder.
Director Jeethu Joseph, who helmed the Malayalam film Drishyam, has made sure that every time you feel confident that a particular person is a culprit, he spins a new twist. But sadly, it ends there.
Being an adaptation, there is a readymade script for the director to spin a thrilling tale and yet, it looks patchy.
Everything in The Body is mediocre, especially the songs, which aren't necessary in the narrative at all.
What stands out is the superb performance by the cast.
Rishi Kapoor does a fantastic job as the police officer hell-bent on finding the culprit.
Emraan now has another film, besides Shanghai, to shut out the naysayers who say he cannot act. He goes from being a scheming murderer to a helpless bystander when things don't go as planned with effortless ease.
Sobhita does the rich woman act perfectly and will remind you her turn in Made In Heaven.
Vedhika, however, needed a better debut.
The film starts well with a fantastic post-interval twist, but it meanders for the most part.
A thriller needs to be edgy or it will lose its grip and that holds true for The Body.
The film scores only because of Rishi Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi and Sobhita Dhulipala's performances and of course, the story.
Moumita Bhattacharjee believes that writing on movies is pure fate. She can be contacted at movies@rediff-inc.com
