Nirdosh: A laboured and regressive whodunit

Nirdosh is a tedious watch, hampered by bad acting and a haywire script, writes Deepa Gauri

It is painful to pan the 'smaller' films, more so when they are terribly bad. Your heart goes out to the hundreds of people who worked behind the scenes and faced the camera only to have an end product that fails to deliver anything of worth.
Nirdosh is one such film. It was supposed to be a murder mystery. It was billed to have been a nail-biting whodunit, but to sit through the two-hour plus film that feels like a 24-hour never-ending drama is more than a tedious exercise.
Everything about Nirdosh is over-dramatic and forced. It starts from scene one, where you have a typical crowd of journalists, bantering into the camera about this sensational murder case that has gone viral. The police have nabbed the 'culprit,' a television content writer, who apparently is behind the scenes of all major programmes.
And there she arrives, a broken Shinaya (Manjari Fadnis), who the media says is being framed by the investigating cop Lokhande (Arbaaz Khan). There is nothing inspiring about Lokhande, as played by Khan.
What then proceeds is a three-day investigation, nay questioning, of Shinaya by Lokhande. The proceedings are painfully slow and contrived, with Manjari going on an all-out drama mode. Lokhande attempts to piece together the mystery surrounding the death of Rana (Mukul Dev), a terrible wife-beater and crook.
In comes Shinaya's husband Gautam (Ashmit Patel), who claims he killed Rana, and Shinaya shouting, 'No, I did it,' and a cop repeatedly telling Lokhande, 'Sir, the suspense is mounting and the time is running out.'
Yes, time and our patience are running out, and Lokhande is not going anywhere with this case. We are reminded that it is the second, and then, the third day of investigation. But all we know further is that Rana was a terrible creep, his wife has been suffering for no reason, and Shinaya, in utter stupidity, has kept a paying guest, the voluptuous Ada (Mahek Chahal), an aspiring actress.
Now, you don't put kerosene near fire and keep the lid open, do you? Apparently, Gautam comes early from work, and gets to spend a lot of time with Ada. Rana is prying on them, and has an 'MMS' - haven't heard that word since a long time - that he is using as a bait to get to Shinaya and Ada. Scoundrel, indeed!
What follows are bizarre scenes about Rana and Ada, before the film wraps up in a convoluted climax that attempts to throw a moral predicament among viewers.
While women are objectified and the overall tone is regressive, there is one scene that wronged women might find inspiring. Rana approaches Ada with the said-MMS, and she retorts with a slap, saying 'it is of poor quality. I will arrange better lighting for you next time.' Bravo!
But all that mock 'fe-machismo' (shouldn't we have a word for women courage too?) mean nothing as the film treads on empty ground, and reinforcing stereotypes.
There is no redemption in Nirdosh from its actors either. While you feel incredible hatred towards Rana, the other characters are ill-defined. Though you may dislike the role of Ada, it must be said that Mahek really takes the character in her stride. Arbaaz, Manjari and Ashmit, the main leads, are rather lost.
Nirdosh remains a mystery: why such half-baked scripts are still made as movies.
Nirdosh
Directed by: Pradeep Rangwani and Subroto Paul
Starring: Arbaaz Khan, Manjari Fadnis
Now playing at theatres in the UAE
Rating: 1/5