MovieChat Forums > Talaash (2012) Discussion > Why explain EVERYTHING so reductively in...

Why explain EVERYTHING so reductively in the end? (Spoilers)


It was a really good effort and I love Hollywood movies that employ the same formula (The Sixth Sense, Surveillance, Shelter, The Passengers, The Dreamhouse etc) but why does Bollywood feel the need to spoon-feed every single detail to their audience?

For eg; in The Sixth Sense, the revelation in the end relies hugely on just a few flash backs and some repetition of earlier dialogue. Whereas, in Talaash, nearly ALL of Kareena's dialogues and her flashbacks are replayed.
Yeah we get that it was her ghost!!! STOPPPP reaffirming it and bludgeoning it into our heads by showing every line she spoke. It doesn't make you want to go back and watch the movie again when there is no intrigue left.


It's about time Bollywood doesn't think of us as imbeciles who have to be sat through every detail. Leave something to our imaginations so we would actually be inspired to go back and watch the movie again to find the missing pieces ourselves.

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One thing Indians sorely lack is subtlety.They absolutely suck at it.
you seem like a thoughtful viewer as opposed to the idiotic oafs around so...
I really didn't like three things in the movie

1)Aamir saying things like 'mujhe kuch samaj mein nahi aa raha hain' and 'lagtha hain ki sab kuch mere saamne hain par nazar nahi aa raha'. Cops tend to say these things when they are completely out of their depth and every step of their investigation leads to a dead end.Does it really seem that out of depth..The investigation is till going on and things are coming to light little by little.

2)Unlike movies like 'the Conversation' or 'the sixth sense' where they're personal setbacks directly affect their professional endeavors..Here they seem to run in parallel until the end which is very annoying.

3) It is framed as a suspense/ thriller and then ends up being a supernatural movie. I felt very cheated at that.

This just might be my masterpiece....

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I completely agree with you. Indian actors have to "think out loud" because again, Bollywood treats the audience with such contempt that it doesn't suffice if the actor just looks perplexed. He HAS to say it to himself, "mujhe kuch samajh me nahi aa raha."

And yeah, how could he so brilliantly keep his professional life unaffected when his private life is in shambles. It dehumanizes the character.

I must say though, apropos to your last point, there have been many Hollywood movies too that have been marketed as a certain genre and end up being another. I guess it is a safe way to sensationalize the suspense even further. I don't quite mind that as long as it doesn't turn into a comedy, unintentionally. Haha.

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Good discussion. To add to your points above, here are some of mine. *SPOILERS*
1) If the three guys left Kareena to die and she wanted revenge - she should not want revenge from the guy that fell down with her. He was still shown in bad shape, hopefully not because of her.
2) She would want revenge with Shashi too but Shashi was just shot by the hired goons, no action by her.
3) They should not have shown the railway scene with Taimoor, it gives away the plot and the scenes after that have no shock value
4) Why did Rani come running to Amir at the end? Did Kareena appear to Rani through medium and tell her that he is good?
5) Taimoor having seen the bags been taken out of hiding place is not believable - no homes can have cracks that big, esp Shashi's.
6) Who else did Kareena kill? The cops said there were many accidents like this at the same place.

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The reductive explanation is precisely why i loved the movie. The scenes and dialgoues which seemed as fillers were complementing the unfolding of the mystery.

Few Examples

Kareena saying "Kaisi zindagi hai. Ek ladki gayab ho jati hai aur kisi ko kuch farak nahi padta" , when in fact she was referring to herself.

The "Ghost" Lady who just seemed to mumble nonsense until Aamir recollects all the things she said and connects the dots.

I get that Sixth Sense explained everything within 20 seconds but how does that make Talaash inferior. In fact, i liked the screenwriters for for introducing so many layers and peeling them off effectively.

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It doesn't make Talaash inferior.. it makes us look dim because they feel the need to spoon feed everything to us. Nothing is left to interpretation or imagination
That's why Bollywood mysteries don't do too well because you don't feel like going back to watching the movie the 2nd time once you find out about the suspense.

For eg: Kajol is the murderer in Gupt. Why should I bother watching that movie again?

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It is just the amount of risk the makers chose to take especially considering that the genre was a risk in itself for the Indian audience.

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I found that pretty unnecessary as well. It was that obvious at times that it was Simran's ghost that Suri was spending his time with. I figured that out in between the movie especially since they forced the 'my son's dead and I want to talk to his ghost'.

It is not just the lack of subtlety with silly flashbacks that were irritating to a great extent but it was also the failure to grasp the irony in the movie like The Sixth Sense. There was the ghost of a child psychologist communicating with a child who claims to see and speak to ghosts.

In this case, Simran knew that she was a ghost by her obvious statements and knowingly she lied about her name as well as put Suri's life at risk by getting them into the same accident that killed the actor. The only irony that played here was Suri talking to the ghost all this time while refusing to talk to his dead son.

Otherwise, it is actually a really good movie. It is very difficult to come across worthy movies to watch in Indian movie industry and somehow, this one managed to capture interest even with the failure of irony in a stupid way.

Masala-ifying a good concept ruined it slightly. I think I will give it a 7/10 just for being a lot better than the current crappy movies.

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