Murder (film)

Murder Bollywood Movie

Murder is a 2004 Hindi erotic thriller film directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Mahesh Bhatt. It stars Emraan Hashmi, Mallika Sherawat and Ashmit Patel in lead roles and is set in Bangkok, Thailand.

Murder released on 2 April 2004 and, despite receiving negative to mixed reviews from critics, managed to become a highly successful venture at the box office. The film was a huge breakthrough for its lead actors, Emraan and Mallika. It got an A certificate from the Indian Censor Board for its erotic subject and scenes.

Plot

The story follows Simran (Mallika Sherawat), a young woman married to Sudhir (Ashmit Patel), a workaholic. Due to her lonely married life, she gets into an affair with her college love, Sunny (Emraan Hashmi), whom she accidentally meets. She starts telling lies to Sudhir so as to meet Sunny daily. She gets so engrossed in their affair that she forgets all her commitments as a wife and mother, and she realises that it is grossly wrong. She decides to end the affair but, to her surprise, she finds another woman named Radhika with him. Simran then realises the mistake of sleeping with Sunny just because of an unhappy marital life. She laments her unfaithful act.

On the other hand, Sudhir hires a detective; he learns about the affair and that Sunny is a womaniser. The next day, Sunny suddenly goes missing. The police come to their house and inquire about him on a report registered by his girlfriend. Simran gets an idea that it has something to do with Sudhir. It is revealed that when Sudhir went to Sunny to ask him to end the affair, in the heat of the moment, he fatally beat him and buried his dead body. She accepts her mistake, supports Sudhir, and tries to take every risk and blame on herself. This develops and strengthens their love and faith. With Sunny murdered, she is arrested by the police and she pleads guilty. Sudhir claims that it is he who has killed Sunny. This confuses the police. Moreover, the dead body is missing from the burial spot.

Mallika Sherawat in Murder

The story takes a U-turn when it is found that this "murder" never took place; rather it was a plot planned by Sunny with the aid of Radhika to separate Simran and Sudhir, so that he could continue his love affair with Simran. Only Simran comes to realize this, and she is trapped by Sunny. She is then rescued by her husband Sudhir who breaks into the house and beats Sunny. Before Sunny goes, he tells Sudhir that if he dies, both of them would go to jail, and therefore Sudhir walks away. Sunny runs up behind Sudhir with a shovel but is then shot at the back by a police officer. The couple reunites with the love developed on the strong foundations of the test of mutual support and understanding to lead a happily married life.

Reception

Murder received mixed reviews from top film critics in India. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated it 3 out of 5. ReviewGang gave it a 6.5/10 score. At the box office, it opened well and grossed over 58 crore worldwide. The film was elevated to 'Super Hit' verdict by Box Office India after its second weekend. It was also the tenth highest-grossing film of the year 2004. It remains the 29th biggest grossing film of all time in Bollywood (worldwide) and the 32nd biggest grossing film domestically (approximatly 46 crore).