Film Review: Take an aspirin before watching Zid

Director: Vivek Agnihotri
Cast: Karanvir Sharma, Mannara, Shraddha Das, Mohan Kapoor, Denzil Smith
Rating: *1/2

What's it about

Rohan 'Ronnie' Achrekar (Karanvir), crime reporter for a Goa daily (it's literally called The Daily!) is smarting from bad breakup (is it a breakup, though?). He decides to take his mind off the pain by changing house. On his editor's (Mohan) suggestion, checks out and moves into outhouse of bungalow by beach. Befriends girl (Mannara) who owns it. One stormy evening, as they return from a party, they hit someone on a scooter and run, leaving her to die. Turns out it's crime reporter's ex's (Shraddha) sister. Accident or murder?

What's hot

The locales are beautifully shot. The camerawork doesn't disappoint and even the imaginary (they're dream sequences...mostly) erotic scenes don't disgust you as much as you initially thought it would. My heart goes out to Mohan Kapoor. He slips effortlessly into the friendly editor's shoes, and one would think, he's a natural at it. Sadly, he has precious little to do. Theatre veteran Denzil Smith as the cop investigating the accident/murder has a voice to match the role and makes the best of the little time he has on screen. The music is pleasant enough and conventional enough to work independent of this film.

 
What's not

Absolutely implausible and totally predictable premise. The plot holes outnumber Mumbai's potholes. Zid shares very little in common with its declared inspiration, The Good Neighbour. And maybe, it was done to make it commercially viable. But what do you say about something that starts out as a genuine adaptation from one source to a mishmash (watch it and tell me it doesn't feel like a Poison Ivy-meets-Wild Things. The lesser said about the acting of the lead cast the better. They do look photogenic, but that's it.  Mannara overacts, Karanvir has three-odd expressions and Shraddha looks primed for a catfight.

What to do

Take an aspirin before walking into this one. Twists and cuckoo-ness apart, it's curiously not that much of a suspense story. You kinda figure that out in the first half itself.