7 Khoon Maaf Review

Film: 7 Khoon Maaf

Starring: Priyanka Chopra, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Naseruddin Sha

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Producer: Vishal Bhardwaj, Ronnie Screwvala

Banner: UTV Motion Pictures,Vishal Bhardwaj Pictures Pvt L

Music: Vishal Bhardwaj

Rating:2.75/5

The film is based on Ruskin Bond's "Susanne's Seven Husbands" and tracks the story of a beautiful young girl Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes (Priyanka) who ends up tying the knot seven times following untimely and mysterious deaths of her hapless husbands.

Undoubtedly Priyanka Chopra’s best performance till date, her performance glues the audience in a way that the minor hick-ups in Bharadwaj’s screen-play can be excused. Gritting story, extraordinary performances, tension fuelling background score are the back-bone of Vishal Bharadwaj’s 7 Khoon Maaf.

Story

In the film, Priyanka's character ages from 20 years to 65. Good looking guys are Susanna's weakness. Susanna has a bouquet of faithful servants, a butler and Maggie Aunty, who are also her partners in crime. The first story has Neil playing the role of Major Edwin Rodrigues. He is one legged, arrogant, possessive and doubting. He is her first casualty.

Post-Edwin's death, Susanna marries Jimmy, played by John, as she is floored by his good looks and musical talent. She, however, doesn't have any idea what's in store for her. Success enters his life due to music resulting in girls and drugs. But Jimmy also dies and then enters poet Wasiullah Khan a.k.a. Musafir played by Irrfan. Impressed by his poetry, Susanna marries him too. Although during the day he is gentle, as the dark dawns upon, he becomes animal.

Next in line is Susanna falling for Nicolai Vronsky, played by Russian actor Aleksandr Dyachenko, from Moscow but this marriage doesn't last long as Susanna discovers him having a wife in Russia and eventually Vronsky dies too.

Following the death of Susanna's previous husbands, the police start taking keen interest in the case. So police officer Keemat Lal [Annu Kapoor] enters Susanna's life. He not only asks sexual flavors from her but also persuades her to marry him. He dies with Cardiac arrest.

After the death of Keemat, Susanna is attracted to Dr. Modhusudon Tarafdar [Naseeruddin Shah] as the story progresses she is now suffering from melancholy and her husband Naseer puts her on mushroom only diet.  He is the first guy in the story who thinks of murdering her but in turn gets murdered.

The seventh husband is played by Vivaan, who knows that Susanna is behind those murders and the rest forms the crux of the story.

Plus points

As told earlier this film is Chopra’s finest performance. “I will kill him and drink his blood,” the words uttered by her only can be uttered by her with such vigor and style. It is hard to imagine any other actress apart from her in the role. Bharadwaj does a great screen-play work though with loop-holes. In some sequences Vishal toys with the camera, zooming from funeral into a marriage and vice-versa. Vivaan, who narrates the story, is an actor in reckoning for the future. Susanna’s husbands in the film portray their roles to perfection even though their characters have a limited span. They generate the maximum impact out of their little outing. Watch out for the song “Darling” and the way old Susanna seduces a young guy in the film.

Minus points

The reasons for some killings, one wonders are not presented convincingly. The make-up of the actress during her 60’s is not up to the mark. The second half stories are predictable with out proper and clueless writing, Bharadwaj falters over here. The interest generated in the first half hardly matches the latter half. On the whole film can be more appalling to certain sections of audience than others.

Final verdict

Just for the sheer brilliance of Chopra and Bharadwaj, 7 Khoon Maaf is a commendable watch.