Detective Sherdil

One good thing about Detective Sherdil is its crispness in execution without the distraction of songs. Even the casting is top-notch from Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah, who blend into each of their characters like it's no big deal. On the other hand, Banita Sandhu, playing a speech-impaired person and Sumeet Vyas as a spoilt brat, do support the story well, being the right catalysts. Yes, the casting and performances do take the cake, but the faltering in the screenplay is heavily due to the obvious ways the story goes and I was quite disappointed.

None of it is enough to put you back in action. The film wants to be slick and quirky but doesn’t go beyond surface-level embellishments. If the story dulls you out, the filmmaking tires you over. Diljit’s voiceover adds a certain spark but it’s not as consistently placed. The film, which is named after the detective, becomes more about the case and less about him. His presence is coincidental; it could have very well been any other detective and the film would have still been the same. Sherdil doesn’t have even an iota of charm as Diljit, the global star. He falls flat in most of the scenes majorly due to a confused treatment.

There are enough adept actors in this ensemble, led by Dosanjh, for us to expect an engaging whodunit. But the treatment is flat, making the characters even flatter, as they come on to say their lines and disappear into the wings. Why, for example, is this film set in Budapest? At least that’s what it seems like, and everyone races around in cars at top speed, screeching to a halt at large mansions and police stations which could be anywhere at all.

Detective Sherdil' is not a demanding film. The characters are simple - either confused or overly ambitious - but not complex. There are blank stares, subtle glances, and guilty exchanges of eyes, and you end up predicting who the killer might be. And that's the film's biggest flaw. A whodunnit begins to lose its appeal the moment you figure out who has done it. In 'Detective Sherdil', Dosanjh's effortless charm and ability to engage with the story can only carry you so far once you've cracked the mystery. The jarring background score, and the film's relentless attempt to force the suspense down your throat further make it harder for you to sit through. You find yourself wanting to skip ahead, just to watch Dosanjh explain how the assassination was carried out.