Movie Review : 7 Khoon Maaf

Rating : 2/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2011
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Vishal Bharadwaj
Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Naseeruddin Shah, John Abraham, Annu Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Usha Uthup
Kid rating : PG-15

7 KHOON MAAF : NO FORGIVENESS FOR THIS PECULIAR FILM !

Although Vishal Bharadwaj is a certified genius when it comes to making films, I’ve got to say that Saat Khoon Maaf was a peculiar film. It weirded me out, and not in an interesting way.

As the title says, it’s about 7 murders, all by one person. The person in question is mild-looking and very pretty Susanna, the product of an Anglo-Indian household, in what I gathered was some Goa-like town. Susanna is searching for true love, and she finds it 7 times. Unfortunately, familiarity breeds contempt, and none of the husbands can live upto their initial promise(s). Susanna of course dispatches them to the other world once she is done with each of them.

The film is Susanna’s – it’s her life and her problems. The men just flit in and out. Susanna lives on unperturbed, surrounded by her helpful and fawning, aged servants. For them “Saheb”, as she is fondly called, can do no wrong. And even though she’s a murderess, and mentally unhinged, even if not palpably so, you don’t think of her as an evil, feral force – she’s just Susanna. A bad situation, a bad egg – what to do ? Susanna had no choice – poor thing.

The seven husbands are quite different from each other. From the almost-Anglo army officer Major Rodrigues(Neil Nitin Mukesh) to the rock singer Jamshed Singh Rathod (John Abraham) to the Kashmiri shairi-spouting poet (Irfan Khan) Susanna can certainly pick them. There is also the Russian diplomat, the salivating police-walla Keemat (Annu Kapoor), the naturopathy doctor Modhusudan Tarafdar (Naseeruddin Shah) who fall for Susanna. All have different professions, native tongues and cultures, but Susanna is supple like quick-silver; she changes herself to suit them. Until she can change no more.

Acting wise, all seven were well-portrayed, and Priyanka is nutty Susanna all the way. I was quite surprised to see singer Usha Uthup do a remarkable job as Susanna’s mother-like, portly maid. And author Ruskin Bond, who’s story this film is based upon appears in a cameo as the priest.

The mood of the film is macabre. It is populated by weird looking characters, which gives the film a surreal feel. It’s all rather black and white; there are very few shades of grey. The characters are all, each in their own way, eccentric and abnormal, in not being able to find a balance as regular folk would do. Eccentricity is doable but in small doses. Large helpings like this push the film over the edge.

The film might have a unique angle to it, but it’s not very interesting. Why is Susanna worth watching ? What makes this film worth watching ? I did not care too much about Susanna or her seven husbands. If there was pathos in Susanna’s search for true love (and I thought that was what Bharadwaj was going for), I did not see it. If we were meant to nod our heads in silent sympathy to one poor soul (and so what if she’s nuts ?) looking for happiness, I’m not sure I got the memo. And the number game – whew ! Seven really ? After a while it grew dreary, and you were waiting for the seven husbands to show up (3 down, 4 to go . . .) so you could finish the movie and be done with it – reminded me of “What’s your Rashee ?”. Plus the film has a really wimpy ending.

This is an agonizing film, with a weak plotline and unredeemable characters – you cannot root for them; you can barely watch them. The ending is a cop-out ; I haven’t read the original story, but if it worked in prose, it definitely does not work on film. The music is slow and lilting in keeping with the mood of the film – Bekaraan is the only number I actually liked.  Priyanka for all for her star power, and the other worthy veteran actors, cannot float this sinking boat. Avoid this one.