Murder Mubarak Movie Review: Pankaj Tripathi and Sara Ali Khan's Engaging Whodunnit is Foiled by Its Anti-Climactic Finale (LatestLY Exclusive)

Murder Mubarak Movie Review: Homi Adajania's Murder Mubarak, streaming on Netflix, is a tweaked adaptation of author Anuja Chauhan's novel Club You To Death. There is a very Knives Out vibe to the film, where a brilliant investigator with a quirky touch tries to solve a complicated murder that involves the richie rich(s) with some caustic class commentary. Not to mention an ensemble cast to spice things up. If you love whodunnits, Murder Mubarak could be an engaging watch, though you might not walk away completely satisfied. Murder Mubarak Review: Sara Ali Khan’s Netflix Mystery Thriller Receives Mixed Reactions From Critics.

In a posh club in Delhi that only has some of the most elites as its members, a gym trainer is found dead. While initially thought to be an accident, ACP Bhavani Singh (Pankaj Tripathi) figures out that it is a cold-blooded murder. He later finds out that the dead trainer has been blackmailing most of the club members to donate huge sums to an orphanage after learning about their dark secrets, thus making all of them suspects.

The Suspects

There is Bambi Todi (Sara Ali Khan), a young kleptomaniac widow still in love with her liberal childhood friend Akash Dogra (Vijay Varma). There is Rannvijay Singh (Sanjay Kapoor), a pompous royal who wants everyone to address him as hukum but tips cheaply in only 20 rupees. Another suspect is Shehnaz Noorani (Karisma Kapoor), an actress and a single mother, who is Rannvijay's rival at the club in their upcoming elections. We also have a gossipy socialite Roshni Batra (Tisca Chopra) and her junkie son Yash Batra (Suhail Nayyar).

Watch the Trailer of Murder Mubarak:

Some of the other people who become involved in the murder investigation include Cookie Katoch (Dimple Kapadia), a lusty sculptor who loves her drinks, Ganga (Tara Alisha Berry), the club's beautician, and Guppie Ram (Brijendra Kala), the mentally unwell caretaker for whom Bambi has a soft corner for. So while ACP Bhavani Singh and his subordinate Padam try to solve the murder, Bambi and Akash go on their own investigation spree, while fighting their resurrected feelings for each other.

An Enticing Ensemble

For a whodunnit, Murder Mubarak gets its assorted players and the arena right. The main characters with their own distinct quirks, including Bhavani and his penchant for using shuddh Hindi, make for a colourful setup that spice up the proceedings. Even if they do not get as much screentime as Sara Ali Khan and Vijay Verma, the veteran stars shine and how in their respective roles. Karisma Kapoor is simply dazzling as the diva of B-grade films, commanding every scene she is in.

Dimple Kapadia was not as much in the film as I would have loved, but she cracked me up every time her character talked about her sex life. Tisca Chopra also does fine work as the club's queen gossipmonger, particularly in the scene where she is called for questioning by Singh. Sanjay Kapoor is excellent as the former royal desperately clinging to a lost glory he will never find. Tripathi is his usual self, and that always works for him. Special mention also goes to Deven Bhojani, Brijendra Kala, and Tara Alisha Berry, who shine in their (limited) parts.

A Mixed Bag Middle Act

The romantic track is arresting in parts mostly because of the pairing between Sara Ali Khan and Vijay Varma, but the scene where they gave in to their feelings felt like it came out of nowhere. This is one of the few instances in Murder Mubarak where you feel the film is rushing up stuff to reach a point, resulting in some awkward placement.

Another example I can cite is a scene where a character tells Bhavani Singh at a church about a traumatic incident they suffered in the past. It is a scene we know would lead to some major revelation, but at that moment, it felt jarring that the character would make such a disclosure offhandedly to an investigating officer.

Murder Mubarak also doesn't get its tone right - it tries to maintain a whimsical black comic tone that keeps dropping, especially when Akash and Bambi get to own the spotlight. But you can't help but smile when Cookie spits out the tequila-and-beetroot drink, when she realises where the beetroots have been coming from. The occasional black comedy livens up the film, which happens when Bhavani Singh is at the forefront. The film keeps throwing in one twist after another, including a couple of grisly ones, like a cat being burnt in an oven (yikes!), and therefore you don't get bored. Murder Mubarak OTT Release: Here’s When and Where To Watch Sara Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi and Vijay Varma’s Crime-Thriller Online!

The Killer Reveal That Wasn't So Killer!

The thing about murder mysteries is that no matter how flawed the previous two acts were, you must get your act right in the finale. The killer reveal needs to be kick-ass. Unfortunately, the biggest drawback of Murder Mubarak is the climax felt too errr... anti-climatic. If you have not read the book, you might be surprised by who the killer turns out to be.

The issue is the reasoning behind the murder, or should I say murders, that felt too tacked on. The book had ample space to pre-establish the mental conditioning of the character to understand why that person did the killings. However, in a movie with too many characters to shuffle with, that space is amply reduced, and that's mostly stuffed in a flashback sequence. So when we find out how the killer began their crime spree, it feels highly unconvincing. I also have to say that while the actor who played the killer was quite good enough in the previous scenes, the person goes overboard in the performance when they have to depict anguish in a confrontation scene in the flashback portion.

Final Thoughts on Murder Mubarak

Thanks to a wonderful set of actors and an intriguing murder mystery setup, Murder Mubarak keeps viewers engaged with its interesting twists and turns. But the film ultimately falters in its most crucial arena - in delivering a satisfying 'killer' climax among its other flaws. Murder Mubarak is streaming on Netflix.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 15, 2024 04:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).