POPCORN REVIEWSS

Adapted from a play by the same name, one of the key ingredients for a lip-smacking murder mystery remains its intriguing characters who often double up as fascinating suspects in the drama. For that to transpire, every character needs to be well etched out with a strong motive to keep the mystery afloat, even while coaxing the viewers to indulge in the guessing game. But nothing of the sort transpires here, even as every character in the mix in Pune Highway, remains sketchy and forgettable. It all begins a decade ago wherein three friends – Vishnu (Jim Sarbh), Pramod (Amit Sadh) and Nicky (Anuvab Pal) witness their fourth friend being beaten for stealing. In words of Pramod, the attacker is a local mafia-businessman Mansekar (Shishir Sharma) who is dangerous and capable of ‘dangerous activities’ that could get the group in trouble. Years later, tragedy strikes when the cops lead by Inspector Pethe (Sudeep Modak) retrieve a body that turns out to be Mona (Ketaki Narayan), the daughter of Mansekar. The whodunnit is essentially fixated around the group of friends including Natasha (Manjari Fadnnis), who once shared a warm bond with Vishnu.

The issue remains on the scattered premise and execution of the drama, that doesn’t necessarily build on any of its characters. There needed to be a warm synergy between the friends’ group, who are shown to have literally grown up together. The emotional core needed to comprise of grief and depression, even as their friendship remains tested during the murder investigation. But nothing of the sort transpires, even as the characters remain sketchy and the character dynamics that often loses the tone of the drama. For instance during an interrogation scene wherein Natasha is brought in much to the dismay of Vishnu, the character suddenly breaks grammer during a documented ‘proof’, giving different interpretations of the word ‘kill’ or ‘killer’. Elsewhere, a childhood trauma has completely engulfed Nicky who has been ‘hating’ every women given his mother’s relation with a ‘stranger’ outside her marriage. The events just don’t add up even as Vishnu during the investigation breaks the tension by asking for ‘pizza’.

The investigative portions remain juvenile as well. I could see what they were going for with the character of Inspector Pethe, who is shown to be a feminist in an occupation that reeks of the male machizmo (he cares for his daughters and doesn’t mind them painting his nails too). But the miss remains once again with the tone that releases much of the tension around the investigation, while breaking the circuit with supposedly funny sequences that aren’t necessarily funny too. It remains amateur given how the character isn’t built to be quirky but his antics often give way.

The meandering drama never really allows the viewers to play a guessing game, even as you witness a flashback involving Mona’s involvement in the lives of Vishnu, Pramod, Natasha and Nicky, a non-linear narrative style incorporating flashback out of nowhere that automatically releases the tension, rather never allows it to build at any point in the narrative. The scattered nature of the drama makes room for pure convenience even as certain revelations with respect to a few characters comes out of nowhere, while being heavily manipulative in terms of writing. For instance, Natasha’s past creeps in out of nowhere even whilst the writers lazily choose not to maintain a thread around the surprise late entry of a character who appears out of nowhere!

Even the revelation that comprised of a major chunk of the final act felt woefully insipid and half-baked. The beauty of a mystery lies in its revelation that ‘must’ ideally keep the viewers hooked until the last minute. And once the revelation has taken place, the idea must be to wrap up the proceedings as soon as possible. But here, even though the revelation wasn’t half as bad, the drama dragged around for another 20 odd minutes, spoon-feeding the viewers will every single detail that transpired whilst never once revelling in the moment on what were the clues that allowed the cops to reach the culprit (the explanation provided was convenient to the core). Hell, even a random love song was plugged in between the events leading up to the ‘murder’, something that just didn’t sit right with me. And the bankruptcy of the emotional core in the drama, came back to haunt and hamper the film at the end. The screenplay remained woefully insipid and scattered, while never quite leaving a mark.