Himesh Reshammiya plays a cop in a murder mystery period film.
By Tathagata Mitra
BANGALORE: Anant Mahadevan’s period musical-thriller, The Xpose, starring actor, composer and singer Himesh Reshammiya received praise from critics, but has fared poorly at the box office.
The Xpose is set in the 1960s, a period of panache and glamour in the film industry of India. Those were the days of Shammi Kapoor and his ‘twists’, of Helen and her never before seen cabaret on the silver screen. The Xpose is set not only in the 60s but in the film industry of South and of Bombay at that time.
The film’s protagonist, Ravi Kumar (Reshammiya) is a beat cop who loses his job after shooting a minister who disrespects him. After that, he joins the South Indian film industry. After having a successful career, he is signed for a Hindi film for the first time. What follows is a series of setbacks and twists and turns, with his co-star and upcoming actress Zara being murdered. Now it is on Ravi to crack the murder mystery wrapped in the shroud around celebrities of the Bollywood industry.
The film also stars Sonali Raut, who plays the victim Zara; Zoya Afroz, who plays Chandni, Zara’s rival and a primary suspect, and singer and rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh, who has been cast in a negative character. The film marks the Bollywood debut of Raut, Afroz and Singh, although Afroz had earlier appeared as a child actor in a few films.
The Xpose has received very positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama has rated it 3/5 and said, “In his new endeavour The Xpose, Himesh and director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan take you back in time. When Bollywood depended completely on the whims and fancies of its lead stars. When 70mm fantasies were all that mattered. When movies were the only source of entertainment for the common man. In the past, accomplished film-makers like Farah Khan (with Om Shanti Om) and Zoya Akhtar (with Luck by Chance) embarked on an enchanting journey into this world. Now Ananth Narayan Mahadevan draws parallels with real life, integrates a murder mystery in the plot, garnishes it with a lilting soundtrack and recreates the bygone era in The Xpose.”
Mehul S Thakkar of Deccan Chronicle has given it 3.5 stars stating “A tough task to be pulled off but director Anant Mahadevan has stuck to a tight script, just under 2 hours of run time, and managed to show some ugly, some beautiful truths of the film industry. What also adds to the whole packaging of the film is the attention to minute detail of that era be it as minute as a ceiling lamp or a pen. R.K studios, a treasure house of antique items, have been credited to supply film cameras of those times for the shoot, shown as props in the film.”
However, the collection of The Xpose at the box office has not been half as impressive. It collected roughly about Rs. 4 to 6 crores on its first day.
1 Comment
The collections are good compared to its budget… if it goes like this then movie is gonna a hit