A whodunit, after a long time! Ittefaq means coincidence in Urdu, and this film is loosely inspired by the 1969 movie of the same name starring Rajesh Khanna and Nanda.
I was eagerly looking forward to this film — after all, such movies form barely one percent of Bollywood’s output, which otherwise thrives almost exclusively on boy-meets-girl templates.
Sadly, the disappointment was hard to miss.
To be fair, Ittefaq sets itself up beautifully. A double murder. Two prime suspects. Both claim innocence. The atmosphere is sombre, restrained, and refreshingly free of songs and melodrama. For nearly the first hour, the director succeeds in keeping you engaged, nudging you to play detective along with the characters.
However, as the film inches toward its climax, the narrative starts revealing its hand far too early. The tension begins to ebb, and the supposed twists feel less like revelations and more like confirmations. When the final “surprise” arrives, it doesn’t land with the audacity a good whodunit demands. Instead of gasping, one simply shrugs and says, “Oh. Okay.”
What the film desperately needed were more perspectives — additional suspects, alternate motivations, and a few cleverly planted red herrings. A whodunit thrives on misdirection, and Ittefaq plays it far too safe.
That said, credit where it’s due. Karan Johar deserves appreciation for backing a project that consciously steps away from his usual cinematic territory. The minimalism, the controlled performances, and the absence of commercial excess show intent, even if the execution doesn’t fully rise to the occasion.
In the end, Ittefaq remains an above-average attempt — not because it succeeds completely, but because it tries something different in an industry that rarely does. One just wishes the coincidence had been sharper.
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