Kahaani Movie Reviews

KAHAANI is a thriller which you just cannot miss. Sujoy Ghosh goes about unraveling the mystery of Vidya Bagchi's (Vidya Balan) missing husband with such neat detailing that the trump card he reveals in the end is like a swift blow to the Solar Plexus. It catches you unawares and leaves you short of breath. Stupendous. Take a bow, Sujoy Ghosh. This movie was a winner at the script level itself. Roping in Vidya Balan as the main protagonist was another master stroke

Kahaani is an absolutely remarkable film for three reasons. First, it is the tautest, most involving thriller to have come out of Hindi cinema in years. Second, it is a stunningly shot city film, made inestimably more memorable by the simple move of stepping out of supremely overused Mumbai streets and increasingly familiar Delhi locations into a startlingly cinematic Kolkata. And third, it contains another bravura performance from the marvellous Vidya Balan

There’s nothing excessive in Kahaani; everything is just right — the pace, the length, the drama. It’s the work of a group of well-intentioned and able technicians who work together in harmony to carve out an unblemished piece of cinema. Namrata Rao’s editing is watertight, while Setu’s cinematography captures Kolkata’s sights and sounds brilliantly.

The rules of entertainment are altering rapidly. Moviegoers, in the present day, are diffident about a film wholly centered on grim societal subject matters. Nor are they enthused about a conventional mainstream motion picture. What works for the discerning spectator in the current scenario is an evenhanded permutation. So does KAHAANI encompass the all-important blend? Let's explore..This is indeed a favorable moment for a Hindi movie heroine, unlike in times of yore

While the truth is that most women would love to see their husbands 'missing', such is not the case with the dusky Vidya Bagchi ( Vidya Balan), whose search for her husband, Arnab Bagchi lands her bang amidst mysterious men and baffling clues in an unknown, sometimes unfriendly city. If, after 'The Dirty Picture' you still needed convincing that you will miss a leading 'hero' in this one, get ready for another punch in the jaw. Once again, a 'pregnant' Vidya, ironically displays

‘Vidya in her pregger avatar’ and the film being a ‘thriller’ were the only buzzwords doing rounds right until the film’s release. But a few minutes into the film and words like biological warfare, Intelligence Bureau, mission, agents… all grab your attention. The film grips you from the very first frame and it doesn’t loosen right till the end, courtesy the slick editing. A heavily-pregnant Vidya Bagchi (Vidya) arrives in Kolkata from London looking for her missing husband

The concept behind a jigsaw puzzle is most fascinating. Its three-step model involves drawing an intricate picture laden with buried details and fine clues, cutting it into several unrecognizable segments and assembling a jumble that carries a seemingly simple challenge -- to fall in place, to make sense. Suspense thrillers are just the same. But very few films belonging to this genre are able to fit the right piece in the right place. And that's what makes Sujoy Ghosh's accomplishment

This is a great time to be a movie buff. Within a week of "Paan Singh Tomar", which should incontestably win Irrfan Khan the National Award for best actor, comes "Kahaani" in which Vidya Balan is so flawlessly resplendent that one suspects the next year's National Award too is already reserved for her. Dirty deeds forgotten. Playing Vidya Bagchi, a non-resident Indian (NRI) who lands in Kolkata heavily pregnant and immeasurably distressed

Kahaani rightly lives up to its name and reinstates the fact that the core criterion for a decent film is a strong story. And if that story is in competent hands, you don't need anything else. No big stars, songs, budget or even a customary male lead. For a (pleasant) change, the script is indeed the hero here! The story is of one pregnant Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan) who comes to Kolkata from London in search of her husband who was in India on an assignment

This is a great time to be a movie buff. Within a week of Paan Singh Tomar, which should incontestably win Irrfan Khan the National Award for best actor, comes Kahaani in which Vidya Balan is so flawlessly resplendent that one suspects the next year's National Award too is already reserved for her. Dirty deeds forgotten. Playing Vidya Bagchi, a non-resident Indian (NRI) who lands in Kolkata heavily pregnant and immeasurably distressed by the disappearance of her husband

What a fright. Her eyes dive into the Kolkata night. And the city stares right back with its chrome yellow colours; the Howrah Bridge is glimpsed through a local train; the Victoria Memorial whizzes by; sleaze is on 24x7 at the unsmiling Mona Lisa Lodge. Indeed, the pregnant woman’s mind is a hodge podge. Throughout you watch Kolkata, quite bedazzled, in director co-writer-director Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani. A work of outstanding vignettes

Clutching her stroller in one hand, the other tightly gripping her passport and a bottle of Evian, a very pregnant Vidya Bagchi steps out of Kolkata international airport, and almost immediately appears lost, even as half a dozen cabbies heckle her for business. 'Kahaani', written and directed by Sujoy Ghosh, hits the ground running with Vidya Balan playing the helpless Mrs Bagchi, who has arrived from London in search of her missing husband Arnab

Sujoy Ghosh’s fourth film Kahaani is a mind-juggling medley of manipulation masquerading as a “mother of a story”. Yes there is a story, but maybe not the one you are watching. By the time you are told that, your trust in the tale is too tall to be tricked. And then the blinding revelation is further plunged into a quagmire of emotions to leave you shaken, stirred and oh-so-satisfied! As the pregnant V/Bidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan) touches down in Calcutta

Kahaani's promotions - the teaser with its fluid soul seizing images of Kolkata, that crafty poster of a pregnant Vidya Balan in a Durga avatar, and a simple but fantastic choice of title – were intriguing enough to make anyone want to watch the film. Because they rarely live up to the promise, I've always maintained that one should never judge a movie by its trailer, but Kahaani is good and a delightful exception. The new age mystery/thriller genre in Bollywood

The board at the entrance of a quaint Kolkata guesthouse reads running hot water in bathrooms. What it means is that a youngster runs around the rooms with a boiling kettle handing it over to the guests! The heavily pregnant protagonist Vidya Bagchi (Balan) discovers this much to her surprise and amusement, just like the film that manages to do both. Nor can she fathom why she is repeatedly called Bidya, instead of Vidya --- simply because

The first-rate performances help steer it to shore – from Vidya Balan to Parambrata Chattopadhyay to Nawazuddin Siddiqui who plays a hard-nosed IB agent and Saswata Chatterjee who plays the insurance agent. Balan, quite effortlessly, manages to be both vulnerable and resilient. So despite the loopholes, Kahaani fulfills what it sets out to do and keeps you hooked and guessing. Which in itself is no small accomplishment.

Kahaani is an amazing product AND a great entertainer. Watch it for Sujoy who delivers his best till date. Watch it for aamhar Kolkata which looks dangerous and sexy. Watch it for Vidya, who like music director Shekhar said, is the new hero.

“Not Bidaa, it is Vidya, with a V”. Vidya Bagchi, newly-arrived in Kolkata on a painful quest, comes up slam bang against the one intractable law that governs the city. No Vs, only Bs. No problem, the Bagchi part of her is a feisty B, and she’s here for some answers, and she’s not leabing till she gets them. Her husband has gone missing while on assignment in Kolkata : where is he, why is there no news from him? 'Kahaani' gives us not just a woman on the trail

Two years after a chemical attack in Kolkata’s metro railway system, in which 200 innocent people had perished, Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), a pregnant woman, comes down to Kolkata to file a report for her missing husband. While she claims that Arnab Bagchi, her software engineer-husband, had come down to Kolkata to work for the National Data Centre, and that he had stayed at a guest house in Kolkata, the police finds no evidence of her husband’s stay in Kolkata