DETECTIVE SHERDIL fails to entice due to faulty script and silly developments Movie Review: DETECTIVE SHERDIL fails to entice

Star Cast: Diljit Dosanjh, Diana Penty, Boman Irani, Ratna Pathak Shah, Sumeet Vyas, Banita Sandhu

Director: Ravi Chhabriya

Detective Sherdil Movie Review Synopsis:
DETECTIVE SHERDIL is the story of a clever officer solving a tricky case. Sherdil (Diljit Dosanjh) is a detective who works in Budapest, Hungary. Commissioner Barry Kane (Mike Capozzola) assigns him the case of the murder of billionaire Pankaj Bhatti (Boman Irani). Pankaj was killed on a deserted highway by an assassin. After putting a bullet in his head, the assassin bombed the car. The suspects are the family members – wife Rajeshwari (Ratna Pathak Shah), son Angad (Sumeet Vyas), foreigner daughter-in-law Elizabeth (Sarah Barlondo) and deaf-and-mute daughter Shanti (Banita Sandhu). Shanti’s boyfriend Purvak (Arjun Tanwar), also deaf-and-mute, is on the run and is a prime suspect. This is especially because Pankaj has willed 80% of his wealth and assets to Purvak. The remaining 20% was divided between a dog, named Rabbit, and Rajeshwari’s brother Bodhi (Chunky Panday). Not just Purvak but Pankaj’s driver Jaipal (Mukesh Bhatt) is also missing. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Detective Sherdil Movie Story Review:
Ravi Chhabriya and Ali Abbas Zafar’s story could have made for a promising murder mystery. Sagar Bajaj and Ali Abbas Zafar’s screenplay is decent in some places. However, there are too many loopholes and not enough has been done to cover them. Sagar Bajaj and Ali Abbas Zafar’s dialogues and Suraj Gianani’s voiceover dialogues are quirky. However, some dialogues, supposed to be cool, don’t have the desired impact.

Ravi Chhabriya’s direction is okay. There are a lot of characters and also back-and-forth narrative. But Ravi ensures that the narrative doesn’t become confusing. He makes good use of the location and has fleshed out the character of Sherdil nicely. A few scenes are quite amusing like Natasha (Diana Penty) being shown as talking in Diljit’s voice, Pankaj’s pen being mentioned as that from 3 IDIOTS [2009], etc. The finale is also unpredictable.

On the flipside, the beginning 5 minutes are incoherent and badly edited. Pankaj is shown to be Europe’s most successful businessman. But one doesn’t get that feeling, especially the way his murder investigation is handled. The detectives don’t seem to be under any pressure and are taking their time in finding the killer. When they are told that Bodhi is absent, the police should have ideally located him immediately. But they don’t and instead, wait for him to come, at his convenience! Shockingly, there’s no post-mortem done, it seems; if it was, a lot of aspects would have got clearer about the bullet used. The entire bit of Purvak changing house every 21 days and the manner in which Sherdil is able to find his residence is quite far-fetched and even silly. There are other issues too. Why is Sherdil unhappy to know that Natasha will be joining him in the investigation? Did they date each other? Or did they have any quarrel while working on an earlier case? The audience never gets an answer to these questions.

Detective Sherdil Movie Review Performances:
The film has an ensemble cast. Diljit Dosanjh is the saving grace. His performance and his subtle antics ensure that the film is watchable right until the end. Diana Penty plays the role of the no-nonsense cop with panache. Boman Irani, Ratna Pathak Shah and Sumeet Vyas are aptly cast. Banita Sandhu leaves a huge mark. Arjun Tanwar makes a confident debut. Chunky Panday does fine but is let down by the writing. Mikhail (Detective Danny) and Kashmira Irani Saxena (Falak) make their presence felt. Mukesh Bhatt, Mike Capozzola, Sarah Barlondo and Olivia Stewart (Detective Olivia) are fair.

Detective Sherdil movie music and other technical aspects:
DETECTIVE SHERDIL is a song-less film. One track is added during the end credits but it’s forgettable. Joel Crasto’s background score is catchy, especially the mouth organ theme. Marcin Laskawiec’s cinematography is appropriate. Malvika Bajaj’s costumes are glamorous while Amit Sharma, Tejas Amit Korgaonkar and Ankita Dhar’s production design is rich. Ravi Chhabriya’s editing is bad in the initial scenes but is fine and even stylish later on.

Detective Sherdil Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, DETECTIVE SHERDIL fails to entice due to faulty script and silly developments. The performance of Diljit Dosanjh and a few amusing moments make the film watchable to an extent.