In spite of the fact we’re dealing with an upsetting narrative surrounding a double homicide – one of the victims being a 14 year old girl – there’s a subtle humour that derives from Meghna Gulzar’s Guilty, mostly from the farcical series of cops and detectives working on the puzzling case. But it’s not detrimental to proceedings, instead ramping up the realism of the piece, for these characters are flawed, humanised creations. There’s not that one, remarkable and visionary cop who knows who is it from the start, but nobody’ll pay any attention to him. They’re struggling with this one, and they’re baffled as to who the killer could be – just as much as we are.
The young girl is found dead in her bead, where her throat has been cut in an efficient, methodical way. Her parents, Ramesh (Neeraj Kabi) and Nupur (Konkona Sen Sharma) are crying by her side, convinced the perpetrator is that of their servant, who has since fled the scene of the crime. But hours later, another body is discovered on the roof of the apartment block – and it’s that of the very same servant, murdered in exactly the same manner. With no real leads, Ramesh becomes the prime suspect, and a diligent, experienced investigator (Irrfan Khan) comes on board to get to the bottom of this tragic, mysterious set of events, where conclusive evidence is rather hard to come by.
Taking the audience through a myriad of twists and turns, it can be a challenge to remain on top of this convoluted narrative at times, but it remains compelling since it’s such an intimate case. We’re not dealing with a serial killer on the lose, murdering two people a day – it’s more low-key, and we get to know, comprehensively, everybody involved – while we’re dealing with a crime where the perpetrator can only come from such a small handful of people. The film is all the better for it, especially when comparing to the likes of the recent, Anthony Hopkins’ starring Solace – where the killer could quite literally be anyone.
Gulzar implements a clever technique too, whereby every time somebody has a new theory as to who it could have been, we see a reconstruction of it happening, bringing their respective idea to life, and each time it seems so plausible, again adding to our mystery and the elusive nature of the picture, making it near impossible to decide who the killer is. Meanwhile, having Khan on board as the film’s lead instantly adds a touch of class to proceedings, as such an enigmatic, magnetic performer who commands the screen at all times.
Guilty is something of a conventional whodunnit, that abides wholeheartedly by the tropes of the genre in a comforting, affectionate manner – making for a tense, taut and thrilling piece of cinema. Just one that is perhaps needing more innovation to allow for it to stand out from the crowd.
