In Lord Curzon Ki Haveli, Anshuman Jha, known for his role as a lover boy in twisted love stories, tells the story of one eventful night, weaving it with mystery, history, and dollops of dark humour.
A classic chamber film with crime at its vortex, Lord Curzon Ki Haveli unfolds in a summer home in the UK, where two couples gather for dinner. Rohit (Arjun Mathur) tells Dr Basuki (Paresh Pahuja) and Ira (Rasika Dugal), the guests of his wife, Sanya (Zoha Rahman), that there is a dead body in the large trunk in the drawing room. What seems like an innocuous joke, ignites a heated conversation, revealing the cracks in the relationship between Dr. Basuki and Ira. Gradually, we get a taste of the true menu of the dinner.
Lord Curzon Ki Haveli (Hindi)
Roping in Alfred Hitchcock’s sense of intrigue and the compulsive violence of Natural Born Killers, the build-up takes time and tests patience, but as the motivations of the characters start unravelling, the film picks up pace and purpose, and eventually Anshuman gives a punch in the gut.
In addition to the mystery surrounding the body of an Englishman whose name evokes the painful history of our colonial past, writer Bikas Mishra addresses the issue of the identity that immigrants grapple with and the insecurity it generates among them.
The best and perhaps the most challenging part is that Anshuman sticks to the genre and doesn’t let the social commentary take over the storytelling. He enables the audience to discover the characters’ motivations and insecurities, without allowing nationality to dictate the good, bad, and ugly aspects of the crime and passion that drive the story. Be it the issue of Asian squatters in the European countryside or the sexuality of Dr Basuki, he keeps them hidden in the trunk.
Rasika presents a believable picture of a Bhatinda girl caught in a bad marriage with an NRI doctor, effectively played by Paresh Pahuja. Written without emotional crutches, Arjun has the most challenging part to portray, yet he gets under the skin of both the character and the audience.
Cast as a charmer to keep us distracted from the plot for a while, Zoha doesn’t succeed in her job. Tanmay Dhaniana impresses in a small role as the Bangladeshi pizza delivery boy. Accent plays a crucial role in bringing out the layers of the characters, and Anshuman has used it efficiently.
Having said that, the larger idea is not fully realised, as you can sense an attempt to sweep the gaps in material and storytelling under the carpet. The exposition of social mores and historical elements doesn’t always integrate organically with the mystery aspect, but overall, this Haveli impresses with its form and emotional architecture.
