 "Zee5’s ‘House Of Lies’ movie review: Sanjay Kapoor’s murder mystery is instantly forgettable")
Cast: Sanjay Kapoor, Hiten Paintal, Ssmilley Suri, Simran Kaur Suri
Director: Saumitra Singh
Language: Hindi
Sprawling landscapes shot with top camera angles aren’t gripping enough anymore to compensate for the blandness in the writing of the stories they inhabit. Director Saumitra Singh‘s murder mystery called House Of Lies is one such film. It’s a whodunnit where the suspects, the investigators, and even the victim, all look so tired and exhausted, they would rather watch reruns of any other thrillers at home than show up on sets. Sanjay Kapoor and Hiten Paintal are the unlikeliest cops one could possibly think of. There’s Simran Kaur as well, an officer from the Enforcement Directorate investigating the murder too. I feel for Kapoor as his elder brother Anil has also starred in an equally forgettable thriller called _Savi_ .
So once again, we have a millionaire who has been murdered but the motive isn’t his wealth but a fat sum of money he earned through Crypto Currency. That’s the most decent touch the film provides the viewers before collapsing into an abyss of boredom and balderdash. The performances are so restrained, one would crave for the hamminess and the campiness of thrillers of the yore.
Even the final twist comes with a sense of composure that it fails to leave an impact. 27 years later, the sight of Kajol walking in slow-motion with dreadful eyes and chilling background score still trumps any other Bollywood plot twist in forgettable murder mysteries in recent times. There’s a time to hold your horses but this is definitely not. The film follows the tried and tired templates of introducing all the suspects, connecting the dots with the victim, and throwing a twist nobody saw coming to show how they were always a step ahead of the audience. Only if they knew they stopped walking long back. And chose to do something else in their houses.
Rating: 2 (out of 5 stars)
House Of Lies is now streaming on Zee5
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