We're seriously considering if movie adaptations of the excellent novel "The Girl on the Train" are actually cursed because it seems like it. Unfortunately, this Bollywood adaptation is a mere shell of its source material as bad writing, "okayish" acting, and a soulless adaptation are what audiences should expect from it.
An excellent criminal lawyer, Mira Kapoor (Parineeti Chopra) has her life completely destroyed when she gets into an accident and loses her unborn child in the process. Unable to cope with her grief and now suffering from short-term memory loss, Mira spirals down into alcoholism and forces her husband Shekhar (Avinash Tiwary) to divorce her. Now alone, Mira spends her mornings dreaming and obsessing about a seemingly perfect couple whom she sees daily on her train commute. That dream is shattered though when she bares witness to something shocking that leads Mira to rage and to a death. Having no memory of what happened, could Mira have done the unthinkable?
For a character that suffers from memory loss, our lead character Mira sure remembers a lot of stuff. And in fact, never did we feel or see the film truly explore that disability to its full extent. It seemed that she forgets and remembers out of convenience and it was never integral to how the mystery unfolds. Bombshells and revelations in the latter portions in the film felt unearned and shallow at the same time. Additionally, it doesn't help that the acting was barely there and the cast simply had wooden and uninspired written all over their performances. The only positive thing for the film would be its cinematography but that's pretty much about it. For a psychological thriller, this was simply lacking in all aspects. There's something here that could have worked but disjointed and non-cohesive writing simply ruins the experience.
Rating: 1 and a half reels
Why you should watch it:
- at least the cinematography was great
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- lazy writing that completely botches an excellent source
- soulless and lifeless experience from first minute to last
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