Vodka Diaries

Story: Assistant Commissioner of police, Ashwini Dixit sets out to find the person behind a series of murders but things take a turn for the worse when his wife goes missing as well.

Review: Debutant director Kushal Srivastava’s Vodka Diaries begins like any other suspense thriller. The story is set in the freezing climes of Shimla where dead bodies start piling up at a local hotel named Vodka Diaries. While a cop, (Kay Kay Menon) is trying to zero in on the murderer, his wife (Mandira Bedi) disappears. He gets a mysterious call from an unknown woman (Raima Sen) who tells him to connect the clues left behind by the murderer and then to solve the mystery which will eventually lead him to his wife.

The genre of suspense thrillers is a difficult one to crack. Not only does the story have to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats but also ensure that they are invested in the process of cracking the case. Vodka Diaries fails to deliver on both counts. The background music in the film reminds one of old Hindi thrillers which were intended to make you jump out of your skin, but in this case your head throbs with a dull ache more than the film throbs with chills. That’s not all; the story starts off as a murder mystery with a quintessential twist in the tale that’s not entirely unpredictable.

What works for the film are the performances by its lead actors. Kay Kay Menon, as a cop who is hot on the trail of the murderer, who is also a romantic at heart, does the best he can with the material at hand. But even an accomplished performer like him cannot save a film that sounds conceptually good, but is derailed by its poor execution. Mandira Bedi as a poetess is competent and Raima Sen delivers despite the limited scope of her character. Sharib Hashmi as the cop’s side-kick has been wasted in a role that doesn’t add much to the narrative. The film’s dialogue writing also leaves much to be desired. While the mystery should be intriguing in a suspense thriller, what remains a mystery is the lack of anything intriguing.