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There is no greater force than a mother who is hurt. Especially in a South Asian lifestyle where a mother shelters her children forever, the need for a mother to seek justice or closure is paramount. In the Hansal Mehta-helmed suspense drama The Buckingham Murders, we get to see various facets of being a mother, and the background is that of an investigation.
Set in the United Kingdom, Jasmeet Bhamra, or DS Bhamra (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is a cop grieving her child’s murder. The film opens with the killer confessing how he committed the heinous act to seek ‘relevance’. Now, this isn’t an unheard-of disposition in developed countries with easy access to firearms and youngsters with mental health problems. Mehta’s gutting film analyzes how a mere statistic in the government records can be a life-changing event for another person. Jasmeet is that person in Mehta’s story who seeks a transfer to a different place to get over the pain.
With complete knowledge of her past, her senior officer Miller (Keith Allen) demands DS Bhamra to get her act together. Duty comes first, says the top cop. Initially reluctant, she plunges deep into the disappearance of Ishmeet – the adoptive child of Daljeet (Ranveer Brar) and Preeti (Prabhleen Sandhu). While the investigative bits do not contain the DNA of a pacy thriller, it is a joy to observe Kapoor glide between Jasmeet and DS Bhamra. Life does not come with a trigger warning so the woman’s slaps slap. Although some of her reflexes are unwarranted and unprofessional, Mehta’s film lends context and empathy to her impulses.
In another blink-and-miss moment, Mehta explains how personal is one’s grief. Jasmeet screams her lungs out in the night, only to be silenced by an annoyed neighbor. It’s not hard to observe Kareena Kapoor Khan’s approach to Jasmeet which is mature and balanced. In the intercut flashback sequences, the motherly warmth she exudes contrasts starkly with her tough vocation and the eventual personal trauma. As unsurprising as that is, Kapoor’s central performance in The Buckingham Murders is the year’s finest leading female act so far.
Hansal Mehta spends enough time to analyze the purpose behind motherhood. There are profound discussions on toxic South Asian families, easy access to drugs, social media, homosexuality, teenage rebellion, casual sexism at work, communal conflicts, and other common immigrant issues. Among the aspects that do not fly is how some of these themes are knit into the larger fabric of a murder mystery. The communal conflict, although extremely relevant for the times we live in, feels forced. One of the initial murder suspects plays a key role in the disappearance of the boy. He also has a history of endangering another person’s life. The Buckingham Murders offers extra sympathy to him and his family while whitewashing his misdoings. The character’s magical turnaround in the finale, too, does not work. The pious Muslim family stereotype feels as dated as the ‘achche musalman’ cliché in regular potboilers. The investigation is interesting but it rarely gives you an adrenaline high. The Buckingham Murders never intends to. I wish Mehta’s film were to pay a lot more attention to DI Hardy (Ash Tandon) in the way it winds up his character.
To give credit where it’s due, the culmination of the mystery – although not high on shock value – is reflective of the film’s overarching message. You do look at the villain as a villain yet it’s not very hard to ponder over the intent. The culprit (if one can call the person so) was as big a victim in the maze and murder was the only solution to escape the mayhem. It’s also smart of the writers (Aseem Arrora, Raghav Raj Kakker, and Kashyap Kapoor) to not orchestrate interactions between the prey and the predator. The Buckingham Murders’ commentary on extramarital affairs works in one case whereas the other is a misfired attempt to extend screen time besides confusing the viewers.
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Despite Kapoor appearing in almost every frame, Mehta’s film gives enough breathing space to the rest of the key players. Ranveer Brar delivers more than what is expected of him and so does Prabhleen Sandhu who is an absolute revelation. Ash Tandon has a towering presence and his angry turn is among the film’s highlights – especially in the first hour. Keith Allen is highly watchable and I wish he had more to do.
The Buckingham Murders is also a technically sound project with DOP Emma Dalesman filming the gloomy landscapes of Buckinghamshire with an eerie vigor. The glam, glossy frames of Kapoor’s erstwhile UK-set films are thankfully absent in this dim-lit investigative saga. The original score (Ketan Sodha, Night Song Records) is among the film’s major assets whereas the songs by Karan Kulkarni and Bally Sagoo lend gravitas and a hint of Bollywood-ness to the plot.
At the box office, The Buckingham Murders has bleak prospects primarily due to the generous use of English besides its unfriendly title. For sure, we do not expect Mehta to have called it ‘Khoon Ki Raat’ but a title as cold as ‘The Buckingham Murders’ alienates its potential further. Or else, this sensible whodunit with a finite emotional arc deserves to be heard, watched and talked about a lot more in an era where Bollywood feeds on the crumbs dropped by language films and re-releases.
Rating: ★★★ 1/2
