Strangers

Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Jimmy Shergill, Nandana Sen, Sonali Kulkarni
Language: Hindi
Banner: Sahara One Motion Pictures, Indorama Films
Director: Anand L Rai
Producer: Uday Tiwari, Raj Kundra
Camera: Manoj Gupta
Story: Gaurav Sinha, Himanshu Sharma
Screenplay: Gaurav Sinha, Himanshu Sharma
Dialogue: Gaurav Sinha, Himanshu Sharma
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Music: Vinay Tiwari
Year: 2007

Directed by a reputed television director Aanand L Rai, Strangers starring Jimmy Shergill, Nandana Sen, Kay Kay Menon and Sonali Kulkarni in the lead is a thriller inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on A Train.

Two complete Strangers with different personality meet while traveling overnight, in a business class compartment in England. Sanjeev Rai (Menon), a successful businessman and Rahul (Sheirgill) a struggling writer begin telling each other their problems. While Rai's wife (Sonali) is close to madness after losing her only son in an accident, thus making life for Rai difficult, Rahul's wife (Nandana) is the one blamed for the breakdown of their marriage. Before the journey ends, they both decide to kill each others' wives.

Director Anand L Rai has proved his excellence and competence. He succeeds in keeping the viewers engrossed throughout the movie by his stylish narration. He unveils the mystery layer by layer and with the use of black and white lights with close shots at appropriate scenes he manages to create the necessary impact and at times takes us by surprise. The movie has its share of negatives too. The story has some faults with certain situations unexplained thereby we find little difficulty to bond with the characters. The pace gets sluggish towards the end and the climax looks hasty. Editing by Sanjay Sankla is first rate and is an added advantage. Manoj Gupta captures the mood of the moment as well as the beauty of London by his outstanding cinematography. Background score is top-notch going hand-in-hand with the pulse of the movie.

Jimmy Shergil is a revelation and simply marvelous. Kay Kay Menon delivers a knockout performance as a troubled husband. Although the women characters were not given enough space to showcase their talents, Nandana Sen makes her presence felt. Her acting is first class. Sonali Kulkarni is equally competent and pulls her act well.

Overall, Stranger is a well made mystery narrated with style. Due to lack of promotion it will find its audience constrained to the multiplexes.

Malyalam Film News

Tamil Film News

Hindi Film News