India: “Talaash” is an Interesting Mix of Genres

If you are looking for escapism then you can’t go wrong with a Hindi movie. The stories in most of these movies make no sense but the films themselves work their butt off to earn your money. There is drama, action, comedy, songs and romance, and all in a fifteen-minute sequence. The only problem is that it takes time to get all these emotions in one movie and, therefore, a typical Hindi movie is pretty damn long – generally just a hair under three hours. Subsequently, as an avowed hater of long movies, I only watch a Hindi movie when I think its something special and unique.

The three Khans (Aamir, Salman and Shahrukh) have dominated this industry for the past few decades and these guys, whether consciously or not, have carved niches for themselves. Salman is the most popular and his movies are mass entertainers that literally make no sense but are full of every emotion known to man, woman, child, and other animals. Aamir is the elitist whose movies, though popular, are more artistic and don’t easily fit any one genre while Shahrukh is the proverbial middle child who is quite successful but gets no respect.

“Talaash” (which literally means Search) is the latest movie from Aamir Khan and it’s an interesting and entertaining whodunit. It’s the story of a police officer (with an impressive mustache) investigating the death of a popular movie star while the officer and his wife deal with the death of their child. It’s an adult movie – this means that there are no big dance numbers, nothing takes place in a college, and everyone generally acts like a grown-up. There is a whopper of a twist at the end and its reveal is managed quite brilliantly but, most importantly, this movie does not showcase the latest fashions or a modern India. It’s a simple, small, and contained movie and quite well done. So, if you are in the mood for a thriller in which people don’t speak English, check out “Talaash” and you can thank me later.