Film

Shabd (2005)

Director: Leena Yadav

Movie review

From Time Out London

Former Booker Prize winner Shaukat (Dutt) hatches a plot to end his writer’s block: why not let his wife Antara (Rai) develop a relationship with her colleague Yash (Khan), who assumes she is single, and write a bestseller about the inevitable messy consequences? No prizes for guessing that events do not turn out as planned… An interesting delve by first-time female director Yadav into Fincher ‘reality game’ territory fails to engage as it lacks credibility from the outset due to serious miscasting, a resultant lack of chemistry between her leads, and an undue reliance on voiceovers and quirky graphics. Unforgivable is the illogical explanation advanced for Yash’s ignorance of the existence of Antara’s husband, given the Indian obsession with one’s marital status.

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