Brilliant performances jazz up the merry-go-round game of greed and deceit
SonyLiv has come out with another original series after their super hit series Scam 1992:The Harshad Mehta Story which is still getting very rave reviews for its authentic portrayal of one of the biggest scams that shocked the whole nation. Close on its heels, A Simple Murder made its entry with a novel theme that boasts of an ensemble star cast that is based on greed for wealth and how it transforms any individual and creates chaos in many lives.
Story-line
Manish (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub ) who dreams of his startup and his wife Richa (Priya Anand) who want to get herself soaked in money woke up one fine morning to find themselves floating in knee-deep water in their home due to a leaky water tap. This stark reality in their lives augments a series of events in their lives forcing them to tread different paths that take them to the darkest corners of greed, deceit, and betrayal.
Santosh (Amit Sial) the hitman loses his girlfriend due to mistaken identity. Now the needle of suspicion swings towards Manish who happens to be the reason behind the mistaken identity.
Pandit (Yashpal Sharma), Himmat (Sushant Singh), and Santosh all had the single goal, to hunt for Manish but in their different ways. Richa on the other hand needs to find the money she snatched from Manish only to lose it to Rahul (Ayaz Khan), her partner who betrays Richa and escapes with the money.
Who runs after whom and who catches whom and who survives in this interesting merry-go-round game of greed and deceit will be known only at the end of this 7 episode series.
Performances
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub enthralls with yet another superb performance after his recently released successful film Chhalaang where he played the role of Inder Singh which is being critically acclaimed all over.
But it’s Priya Anand who steals the show with her blemish-less performance on her digital debut after featuring in films like English Vinglish, Rangrez, Fukrey, and Fukrey Returns. She proved again that she got the talent and beauty in abundance because of which she has become one of the most wonderful actors. Her performance in the character of Richa, whose greed for money stimulates her to go to any extremes remains the highlight of this series.
Amit Sial is another actor who doesn’t require any introduction. He is growing in stature with every series displaying his wide variety of acting skills which make him one of the most sought after actors who is capable of performing any role in any format with ease and aplomb.
Yashpal Sharma, Gopal Dutt, Vikram Kochhar, Ayaz Khan, and Sushant being established actors have enlivened the proceedings with their remarkable performances adding more glitter to the whole narrative.
Behind the scenes
The story of Akhilesh Jaiswal has all the ingredients to make A Simple Murder a riveting thriller but his screenplay along with Prateek Payodhi faltered at places throwing the story out of gear on some occasions.
The execution part by director Sachin Pathak is partly brilliant but it should have been a shade better as it fails to sustain the interest it evoked in the beginning till the end.
The photography of S.Bharathwaaj is on the brighter side while the background score by Karsh Kale and Roby Abraham is apt and fits the bill quite admirably.
The editing by Parikshit Jha should have been done in a better way by squeezing further to make A Simple Murder more engaging.
Verdict & Rating
It starts with a bang but ends with a splash. It was quite entertaining and engaging till halfway but it started slipping off the hook as the whole narrative got monotonous afterwards without making any progress except beating around the same bush time and again.
The pace should have been accelerated by at least another 40 kmph instead of chugging at a mere 20 kmph to sustain the interest till the last shot.
The brilliant performances from the most coveted actors in key characters have jazzed up A Simple Murder to a higher echelon. As a toast to all those stars, it is highly recommended for a one time watch and if you love the game of hide and seek, you can watch it for the second time as well with your friends to enjoy it more than the first time. Either way you can give it a try.
