Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

user-787-45932 Saat Khoon Maaf-A Movie ReviewShe laughs, a certain laugh; too unique, too perfect; and thus commences a spiral staircase of Vishal Bharadwaj, Saat Khoon Maaf.The movie literally is a spiral staircase with every turn swift and predictable but Bharadwaj keeps on getting better and better and…Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes is a desperate love-seeker, wanting a perfect husband to complete herself but is challenged with a string of monstrosities in the form of her grooms. She swings and twirls in desperation and contempt trying to figure out her estranged marital life and fighting her womanhood. She reasons and applies and ultimately is left with no other option but murder.Welcome to Saat Khoon Maaf were passions becomes dark, humor becomes gruesome and characters explode on faces with such sincerity that reality and cinematic experience combine at a beautiful delta.Vishal Bharadwaj in his wholesome elegance displays a poetic saga on screen. Everything couples and takes form of a vintage painting painted in deep hues on a burnt canvas.It is the manner if not the matter which truly becomes the heart and soul of this rustic and dark comic thriller.First things first; Vishal Bharadwaj has raised his bar tremendously by displaying his sense and sensibility with style and charisma in encapsulating a next to impossible tale on screen. The screenplay by him and Mathew Robbins (can be read on the new edition of the book titled Saat Khoon Maaf) is so tough to put on. The director brings a tragic grandeur to the film with mere class and grace.The film is largely driven by the exhilarating Priyanka Chopra in what can be categorized as her best act ever. She is stoic, erotic, poised, perplexed, subtle and of course venomous and yet gullible. She roars in the distraught and sorrowful character of Susanna. The husbands are nicely picked with Anu Kapoor (Inspector Keematlal) shining out of the motley lot.The cinematographer creates scenes with such intense tension, especially the close-up shots of the characters. He creates a masterpiece much to the likes of Stanley Kubrick (the disgust and horror of A Clockwork Orange). Every scene, every still is picture perfect.The minute and intricate detailing of the film is mind-boggling. The sets, the chapels, the bungalow, the minuteness is tremendous.What lightens up the film is the careful lightning used with such consciousness with most of the scenes automatically becoming dark and adding to the atmosphere. One of the most tremendous scene of the movie is when the Russian husband is being warned of all the misadventures of his wife and she starts dancing around him. The scene enriches the viewer.Another factor is the music. It soothes and at the same time corrupts the movie with an indulging marvel. Vishal Bharadwaj composes both dark and definitive pieces, extensively fulfilling the demand of the horror genre.Summarizing, the movie is a stellar presentation of an out of the world experience which readily accounts of the masterpieces which can be woven on screen.

MovieInspector Vishal Bhardwaj didn't impress me that much with Omkara, but his last two films (Kaminey and this) have really impressed me.The story is based on the Ruskin Bond novel 'Susanna's seven husbands', about a woman who gets married 7 times in search of true love.The performance by Priyanka is out of this world. Out of the seven husbands, the most impressive ones are John Abraham, Irfan Khan and Naseerudin Shah.The screenplay is brilliant, and the cinematography is good. Characterisation is brilliant too. The direction is simply superb; Vishal Bhardwaj almost takes things to the next level with this.The music of the film is quite appropriate. I wouldn't say it is chart-buster quality, but it certainly adds to the film. Verdict: recommend this to serious film fans. It's just a wonderful movie. 9/10.

vishous It's not often you see a Bollywood movie rated on IMDb at 6.8. Now, although that is perilously close to my bare-minimum-for-watchability boundary, for Bollywood I made the exception – and I was glad I did! This altogether dark and mysterious movie of a desperate woman and her fatally unsatisfactory love affairs is both clever and non-repetitive keeping the viewer hooked whilst retaining a sweetness that only Priyanka Chopra can bring. I'm sure there's a Hollywood counterpart somewhere, but I'm well prepared to look past that (not to say I no longer trust Bollywood to be original anymore).The story starts with a shocker (one you can almost overlook) and the inclination that this will be a forensic style murder mystery movie, but after a rather innocent introduction to the character of Vivaan Shah (Arun Kumar) the movie has its first twist, becoming a story-telling movie about Arun Shah's first love instead. Priyanka Chopra's character from the outset is shown as a dark and mysterious, unhappy, love craving hyena destined to always be dressed in black (and play with snakes) – a role Priyanka played flawlessly – and chronologically tells the story of 6 husbands who initially promised eternal love but after marriage bloomed a fatal flaw, each swiftly dealt with, with the help of her trusty servants.Essentially the story revolves around one house and its participants, yet Vishal Bhardwaj manages to somehow cleverly squeeze 6 original murders into- and around it – proving that there is more than one way to skin a cat. All the supporting males are fantastic and very well cast, some hailed as giving the best performances of their career. The music is brilliant – from the ponging cheese of "O mama" (and the religious version "O matha!") to the catchiness of Doosri Darling to the romantic epic of Awaara, all giving the viewer the pick and mix variety without the sick aftertaste. A couple of negatives, but by no means deal breakers: 1) the story seems a little slow to start with, seeing the deaths of most of the husbands in the last hour or so. 2) I failed to see where the comedy was – I definitely didn't have any laugh-out-loud moments. 3) This movie doesn't show Indian forensics in a good light, getting the facial recognition stuff HORRIBLY and unconvincingly wrong.I'm not going to go through the 6 murders, that's for you to watch and enjoy. But, isn't the film called saat (7) Khoon Maaf? Again, a mystery you must watch to find out, although I will say the seventh fashions for a very fitting and crafty ending altogether making you once again side with the murderer. Overall a very clever, dark, multi-layered movie with a sprinkling of Priyanka's unique sweetness making this experience perfect for the movie goer's palate.

Peter Young The negative reviews this movie was given upon release did not discourage me from watching it, and I'm very happy for that, because I really enjoyed it. Okay, 7 Khoon Maaf is not the best movie of the year, nor is it Vishal Bhardwaj's best, but it is just good enough to make for an interesting watch. I was fascinated by the concept of a black widow who kills all the many of her husbands. The fact that it was directed by Bhardwaj, one of the finest directors in the Indian film industry made it more promising for me. This is the story of Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes and her constant search for happiness. She is beautiful, attractive, and she badly wants to be a wife to the ideal husband, but alas, in each of her husbands she finds major flaws which make them quite impossible to live with. The first is possessive, crippled, insecure and jealous; the second is a singer whose growing fame makes him start cheating on her and using drugs; the third is a sadomasochist; the fourth is a Russian spy who turns out to be leading a double life, having another family abroad; the fourth is a police inspector who Susanna reluctantly marries because he knows her secrets; and the sixth is a doctor who saves her life at first, but later tries to kill her in order to inherit her property. Well, six husbands there are and one may wonder who the seventh husband is... well, this is a secret that will be uncovered when you see the film.With every husband, Susanna tried hard to handle the situation and believed she could change something, but when she realised she could not, she chose the easiest option of killing them. Each time, she was assisted by her faithful servants who loved her unconditionally. 7 Khoon Maaf is one very ironic and entertaining story which is very well executed. Bhardwaj's direction is excellent, and the film is dark and humorous. The cinematography is fantastic and the music also fits the film's mood to the max. I did not find the pace problematic at all, and according to me the movie flowed well. Of course, everything in the film depends on the character of Susanna, and it is a great, nuanced role which is written and presented very well. I badly tried not to sympathise with Susanna's character, but I failed. It's simply because despite everything, she is not presented as a villain but more as a victim. Of course nothing can justify what she did, but the thing is that she herself is actually portrayed as a caring, dedicated person who is just not ready to live in pain and wants to be happy. Additionally, each one of her husbands is a negative character and a semi-monster of sorts, more or less, so it was easy to dislike them. Not even once did I feel for any of them. More than anything, however, it is the film's darkly comic tone which makes the audience take everything easily and never worry too much.Priyanka Chopra plays the film's main protagonist, and this modern femme-fatale is probably the best role of her career. Chopra really tries her best, but while she does well enough within the parameters of the film and is quite effective throughout, one thing is sure: she is not the best choice for the part and one can easily imagine this role played with much more conviction by a more competent actress. In all fairness to her, at times she is so good that she manages to outdo herself, but in most parts you just want more, or actually less. Chopra is a very sexy young lady, but something is missing there, and maybe it's just because she is not a mature enough actress and does not know when she has to push the right button. She does not really register the complexity of Susanna and her mysterious nature. It's a role that requires an actress who has the correct mix of beauty, sensuality and talent. Someone like Rekha in her younger days would have been a perfect choice for this part, because she had the ability to create a deeply troubled and at the same time cryptic and enigmatic persona. Having said that, it is Chopra's film and the guys are there only to support her. All of them do very well, but those who impressed me the most are Annu Kapoor as her fifth husband, and Vivaan Shah, who is the film's narrator. I recommend you to watch 7 Khoon Maaf, it's an impressive picture and an altogether worthy effort.