'Haseen Dillruba' movie review: Taapsee Pannu-starrer is a mess

'Haseen Dillruba' does not do justice to Taapsee Pannu's abilities

Haseen Dillruba

Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey and Harshvardhan Rane

Director: Vinil Mathew

Rating: 1.5/5 stars

Platform: Netflix

Actor Taapsee Pannu's latest release Haseen Dillruba is a colossal disappointment that fails to leave an impact. It revolves around what happens when the protagonist is accused of conspiring with her lover to murder her husband. On paper, the film has pretty much everything- right from a talented cast to twists and turns-- that one would expect from a thriller. It, however, fails to reach its potential as the execution is quite underwhelming.

Weak screenplay

The opening scene falls flat as it tries way too hard to shock the viewers. The action shifts to the police investigation, which reveals the protagonist's love story and her strained relationship with her husband. The romantic scenes involving Taapsee and Vikrant Massey are decent but not exceptional. The 'wow' factor is missing, which makes it difficult for the audience to connect with their reel relationship.

Taapsee's scenes with Harshvardhan Rane, who plays her lover, too could have been a lot better. Their chemistry is not as intense as the one between Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat in Murder, a film set in a similar space.

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Tepid climax

Broadly speaking, a thriller can work only if it features a well-executed climax. Ajay Devgn's Drishyam, for example, hit the right notes as the twist towards the end came out of the blue. This exactly where Haseen Dillruba falters as the climax is as predictable as can be.

Forgettable outing for Taapsee

The flick, however, could still have made an impact had the character development been up to the mark. Taapsee, widely regarded as one of the finest actors in Bollywood, struck a chord with her work in Pink and Badla as the writers gave her ample scope to showcase her range as a performer. The writers of Haseen Dillruba, sadly, fail to do so as Rani Kashyap comes across as a mere caricature.

A missed opportunity

Joker, widely regarded as one of the finest Hollywood films of 2019, delivered the goods as Joaquin Phoenix's transformation from underdog to the 'Clown Prince of Crime' felt organic Each moment of that dark journey was explored in great detail.

Vikrant's character could have been just as iconic as Joker had it been fleshed out properly. The makers, sadly, fail to explore Rishu's dilemma. As a result, his transformation from meek to intense is anything but convincing. Harshvardhan too fails to salvage the film as his character is quite one-dimensional. Aditya Srivastava, who rose to fame with the TV series CID, is underutilised.

Final thoughts

The music is another major disappointment as none of the songs have any recall value. The editing is decent as the film doesn't drag too much. The background score too is pretty mediocre. The other technical aspects are decent.