Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Director: Homi Adajania
Writers: Anuja Chauhan, Gazal Dhaliwal, Suprotim Sengupta
“The Royal Delhi Club is one of India’s top clubs. Very Exclusive. Even after independence, for several years, only Britishers were allowed membership. Not even other white people.”
The 2024 Bollywood whodunit “Murder Mubarak” unfolds against the backdrop of posh, super-exclusive South Delhi clubs, frequented by wealthy patrons, each with their own peculiar quirks. What unites most of them is their inclination to prioritize the facade of fake perfection over authenticity. When the club’s gym trainer is found dead, a long list of members come under investigating officer Bhavani’s (Pankaj Tripathi) lens.
The opening 12 minutes of “Murder Mubarak” amusingly introduce the primary suspects one after the other: there’s rehab-returnee Yash Batra (Suhail Nayyar), still indulging in drugs on the sly; his mother, Rashmi Batra (Tisca Chopra), known for her fibs; arrogant show-off Ranvijay Singh (Sanjay Kapoor), determined to win the club elections; lawyer Akash Dogra (Vijay Verma), entangled in a love triangle; B-list star Shehnaaz Noorani, also running for the club elections and rumored to be involved with the gym trainer; and the young widow, Bambi Todi (Sara Ali Khan), with a problematic habit known to few. But ACP Bhavani’s suspect list also include a few club staff members as suspects. Dimple Kapadia portrays Cookie Katoch, another club member who is among the first few to discover the trainer’s body and relishes being at the center of the action to catch all the gossip.
While the portrayal of the ‘South-Delhi’ upper-class charade is executed well through character interactions, it can also become quite annoying and tedious to watch. Even though the writers exhibit self-awareness during the more boring exchanges, with characters rolling their eyes at each other (while you roll your eyes at the screen), the humor needed to be sharper and wittier. ACP Bhavani, portrayed by Pankaj Tripathi, contrasts well against the Delhi club snobs. Characteristic of their privilege, they continue to gossip, laugh, and joke about the murder case, treating the gym trainer’s death as inconsequential as a fly being swatted.
With a runtime of two hours and twenty minutes, “Murder Mubarak” is adequately long but fails to properly flesh out the characters of its almost dozen suspects. Vijay Verma and Sara Ali Khan’s characters, Akash and Bambi, hog most of the limelight as they voluntarily assist ACP Bhavani in the murder investigation. However, Sara Ali Khan’s delivery is inconsistent, notably faltering in some of her emotional scenes. Pankaj Tripathi excels in his comfort zone as ACP Bhavani, a Hindi-speaking cop who is casual, cool, grounded, and uses humor to make his point – a role he is accustomed to playing. Sanjay Kapoor also stands out in his part, portraying a near-broke royal descendant who enjoys flaunting his heritage and masculinity. “There are only two balls in this club, and I have both of them,” he smirks in a scene to the cop during his questioning.
It’s interesting how “Murder Mubarak” attempts to highlight class divides but ironically sidelines the club’s staff members, some of whom are considered potential suspects. For example, Tara Alisha Berry portrays Ganga, who works at the club and is frequently gossiped about, yet her presence and significance are difficult to register. However, as far as the mystery aspect of the plot is concerned, the events keep you guessing about the identity of the murderer. There’s a fun scene where staff members place bets on who might have killed the gym trainer, and if I had to wager on a suspect, it would be a 50:50 chance between two people, one of whom turns out to be the killer in the end. But a 50:50 suspense is a good enough mystery. The climax gives the ultimate culprit an unnecessary pretentious speech, which borders on sounding redemptive, but also highlights their delusional privilege and how human life is cheap for rich jerks. Anyway, if you’re looking for a flashy, filmy, Bollywood murder-mystery, “Murder Mubarak” is worth a one-time watch.
Rating: 6 on 10. You can stream it on Netflix.
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