The Body

The Body is the official Hindi remake of the highly appreciated 2012 Spanish film El Cuerpo (The Body). Without going into comparisons with the original that I haven't seen or being biased by the unkindly critical comments, I must say that The Body is a taut thriller that often borders on the belief of the supernatural and comes across as eerie. The director Jeethu Joseph (of Drishyam fame) has kept the running time to just above two hours which ensures that the viewer interest remains intact.

Shot fully in Mauritius, The Body deals with the death of a successful business tycoon Maya Puri (Sobhita Dhulipala) aged 29. The cause of death is originally assigned to a massive heart attack, but problems arise for her husband Ajay Puri (Emraan Hashmi) when her body disappears from the mortuary without a trace and he is summoned by the police to the forensic laboratory for an interrogation. The rest of the film is a flashback about the reconstruction of the events leading to her death.

Emraan Hashmi delivers a stereotypical performance and appears disinterested at times, perhaps in a bid to create an alibi for himself. Sobhita Dhulipala is quite impressive, swinging between a controlling wife and boss, and a practical joker who drives her husband to a point of nervousness on several occasions. Vedika Kumar plays the role of Emraan Hashmi's extramarital love interest and has a limited role. But it's Rishi Kapoor in the role of the investigating officer who delivers a punchy and gritty performance. His dialogues are clever and witty too.

The Body had the potential of becoming an extraordinary thriller but falls short in some elements. Emraan Hashmi is partly responsible for it by delivering a disengaged performance and failing to match up to Sobhita Dhulipala's energy. The other aspect is that the film appears low key and fails to build on the supernatural effects it created to take it to a high. Nevertheless, it's a movie that has a fantastic suspense and its finale comes as a load of surprise. Go on, if you are a suspense buff, don't miss it.