Takethispunch Late at night on a deserted road, well-known actor Armaan Kapoor (Vivan Bhatena) loses control of his car for no evident reason, apparently trying to avoid something, and drives into the sea. Inspector Surjan Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) with his assistant Devrath Kulkarni (Rajkummar Rao) begins an investigation into Armaan's death. Surjan's personal life is in turmoil since his 8-year-old son, Karan, drowned recently during a family outing. His wife, Roshni (Rani Mukerji), is still grieving and Surjan has developed a guilt complex.Surjan learns that on the night of Armaan's accident, Armaan was travelling with 2 million rupees in cash, which is missing from the car. Armaan had given the money to a blackmailer, a pimp named Shashi (Subrat Dutta). Three years back, Shashi had performed a cover-up for Armaan and his friend Sanjay Kejriwal (Suhaas Ahuja). Once he learns of Armaan's death, Shashi takes off with the cash, leaving behind a mistress, Mallika (Aditi Vasudev). Shashi's friend, Tehmur (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), steals Shashi's discarded sim card. Shashi begins blackmailing Sanjay. In panic, Sanjay employs some thugs to murder Shashi. Tehmur begins to use Shashi's old sim card to blackmail Sanjay with Shashi's murder.

Subhor Khanna Aamir Khan has to be lauded for he is a brave man, and a braver "star". He is someone who is willing to push the envelope, and get out of his comfort zone often a time to attempt something that pushes boundaries and paves way for other filmmakers. He did it with Taare Zameen Par and he does it now with Talaash. With Talaash, he bring film noir mainstream ... a form lost some time for Hindi cinema in the 60s with those suspense dramas and lately attempted by a wave of independent film makers (for example Manorama six feet under). It also assumes greater importance in the current context of the stars (except for perhaps Ranbir Kapoor), who are more than happy to have their image reinforced and push down our throat another one of those 100 crore ear-drum shattering and gravity-defying movies, sensibility be damned.Talaash is a story of Surjan Singh Shekhawat, a police officer, who is investigating a sudden and inexplicable accidental death of a movie actor. In the process of doing that he ends up seeking the help of a street walker (Kareena Kapoor), a search that has him exploring the underbelly of Mumbai... and all of this as he tries and deal with personal loss and a strained relationship with his wife (Rani Mukherjee). All of the three principal actors are in fine form displaying their craft well. Shekhawat is radically different from the policeman played by Aamir in Sarfarosh, this time much more brooding and you can sense the torment within. Rani as his wife is completely de-glam and displays maturity while Kareena displays equal amounts of seductiveness and vulnerability as the street walker. In a typical noir, the atmosphere and the mood is almost a principal character, and here in Mohanan displays his chops, for the cinematography is brilliant and creates a sense of doom and forebode right from the beginning as the story unfolds and there are enough little twists and turns to keep you engaged with little subplots involving other characters such as with Shernaz Patel as the neighbour and Nawazzudin Siddiqui, in a wonderful role, as the pimp's sidekick, even as you try and connect the dots. There is just one problem.... the story. A good suspense film has to lead its viewers through a maze of clues and should engage the viewer in as much as trying to solve the mystery by way of clues placed upfront so that when the mystery unravels, the viewer should be kicking themselves for missing out on the obvious and marveling at how he was fooled into thinking otherwise (Khamosh by an uncorrupted Vidhu Vinod Chopra is for me one of the best examples of this). For me, in a meeting of as sharp a minds such as Reena Kagti, Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, and of course Aamir Khan himself, one would have counted for a more cerebral conclusion than what is placed upfront. It might perhaps work with other filmmakers such as Mukesh Bhatt or Mohit Suri but with Aamir Khan, one holds him to higher standards, and therefore without revealing much of the plot, one certainly was looking for more. ... and this singular thing perhaps might stop it from acquiring a classic tag when it comes to suspense genre.... but as I said, this movie more than anything is hope that all is not lost and its success might hopefully lead our other big stars to doing something worthwhile other than blowing up cars and punching people through brick walls and creating craters on perfectly good roads. Hell, that is a job for our municipality department. Why take that one thing away that do so well away from them!

Chrysanthepop Reema Kagti's previous film 'Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd' was a thoroughly enjoyable viewing experience. However, the same cannot be said about 'Talaash'. To start with the flaws, it gives the impression of being a thriller until the very end when it turns out to be something else. Even though the Shernaz Patel track is thrown in every now and then to hint towards the end, it feels somewhat forced. 'Talaash' also tends to spoonfeed the viewer. Considering the tone, some mystery would have worked in its favour but instead it attempts to answer all questions. The pace is also slow at times.As for the plusses, it's a well crafted film. Cinematography, lighting and art direction are first rate. The characters are well written (except for the Frenny character). The performances are splendid especially that of Rani Mukherjee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui who are superb. Aamir Khan does a decent job. Kareena Kapoor is average at best.Despite its many flaws, 'Talaash' is still a watchable film. I didn't find it boring at any point. There's something intriguing about the characters, including the minor ones that draws your attention.

Abhijit Mukherjee Indian Film Makers should make more Thrillers/Suspense movies.I personally liked this movie. The story is the strength of it.Acting was excellent by all the cast, specially I liked the character Taimur played by Mr. Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Amir was also excellent. The story around Rani and her son needed more focus.I felt it was incomplete.However,the climax was dull, could have been presented in a smarter way.Found some similarities with a Hollywood movie.After all, We do expect a little more from "Amir Khan"Overall, very much enjoyed it.