Opening Doorz

By Martin D’Souza | Opening Doorz Editorial | November 26, 2016

Rating: 4 / 5

The essence: Moh Maya Money is big bang for your bucks, if dark cinema is what you are looking for.

“In greed we trust” is the tagline of debutant director Munish Bhardwaj’s tense and disturbing ‘thriller’. He stays true to his plot and theme. Moh Maya Money is dark cinema at its best. There have been films like these that have socked you in the gut like B A Pass and The Girl in Yellow Boots to name just two.

What M3 does is get your focus on the evils of single-minded devotion to getting rich fast and the consequences thereof. Conscience takes a deep sleep, ambition is sky-high and slowly, the inherent good values are replaced with evil intent. Every step of the way, you seek to climb to the top of your loot!

A middle-class couple living in Delhi get sucked into this ‘get rich soon’ funda and before they know it, their lives spiral out of control, rocking those around them and those they come in contact with. Bhardwaj lends a neat punch towards the end, to leave the film open-ended with a scene that still plays up in my mind.

Divya (Neha Dhupia), caught in her own game, unwittingly blurts out something that only she knows to Bhavna (Vidushi Mehra) who is desperately searching for her missing husband, Rohan. As the pieces fall into place in Bhavna’s hazed mind, Divya is equally shattered. Somewhere, deep within her, is the woman who wants to reach out to the hurting Bhavna.

The camera focusses on Divya’s teary-eyed, distraught face as Bhavna goes hysterical in the background trying to convince the cops that she has stumbled onto a vital clue to her missing husband. The expression on the face of the investigating police officer surmises the confusion around the case!

Cut to the first scene: a silver Honda City goes up in flames and Divya, a news producer at a television station, gets a call. It’s her Honda City and her husband who has been found charred inside.

The film then cuts back to 55 days later. The pieces fall into place and the games Divya and Aman (Ranvir Shorey) play slowly unfolds.

Vidushi Mehra is mind-blowing in her role as Bhavna, a young, pregnant wife, looking out for her missing husband. Her pain, anger, hopelessness and her temerity to continuously knock on the doors of the police is characterized to a nicety. Her expressions pull you into her pain and her halting voice tears at you from the inside. Well done Vidushi; your essaying of Bhavna is what genius is.

Ranvir Shorey is first-rate as the Delhi middle-class man who cons his way up to a pile of cash. But his ‘get-rich-soon’ scheme pulls him to his downfall sooner than he expected. From a harmless employee cheating his way through, to showing his sinister side, he is chilling and effortless.

Neha Dhupia is moving from strength to strength showcasing her talent. As the spouse, she is halting in her affections for Aman, which makes you wonder why. But as the movie progresses, her motives become clear. Another film in her portfolio where she has come up trumps!

Bhardwaj has kept the narration at a rapid pace, never once slacking. Even in the two flashbacks (one for Aman and the other for Divya), he puts together the pieces without compromising on the length of the film. And that is a huge plus. It’s so easy to fall in love with your creation, forgetting the end result!

And the end result is what stands out. Moh Maya Money is a big bang for your bucks, if dark cinema is what you are looking for.

In greed, you cannot trust!

CREDITS
Producer: Sandeep Narula
Director: Munish Bhardwaj
Star Cast: Neha Dhupia, Ranvir Shorey, Vidushi Mehra