Via Darjeeling fails to retain the initial thrill

TOO MANY COOKS? The whole excitement of multiple narrations is lost early on in the film.

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Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Sonali Kulkarni, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapur, Simone Singh, Proshant Narayanan and Sandhya Mridul

Director: Arindam Nandy

Grabbing your attention from the moment you settle into your seat, Via Darjeeling starts off as a thrilling suspense film.

Kay Kay Menon and Sonali Kulkarni play honeymooning couple Ankur and Rimli Sharma who're taking in the sights and sounds of picturesque Darjeeling when on the last day of their trip, Ankur suddenly goes missing.

At the end of a thorough enquiry, the police inspector investigating the case, Robin Bose (played by Vinay Pathak) is unable to come up with any answers and the search is abandoned.

A couple of years later, the inspector is at a friend's home in Kolkata where, over drinks, he narrates the incident to a gathering of friends who're fascinated by the events of the story, and begin to concoct their own versions of the story as a lark.

These friends – played by Rajat Kapur, Simone Singh, Proshant Narayanan and Sandhya Mridul – each come up with a different take on the story, and keep each other amused and engaged with their respective narrations.

What starts off as an intriguing thriller becomes more and more boring as the focus shifts from Ankur and Rimli's story to the arguing and rambling of these drinking buddies. The writers waste too much time establishing the dynamics of the relationships between these friends instead of diving straight into their stories.

Their stories, in fact, tend to lack imagination – what you get are the most obvious stories you'd expect given the circumstances – and hence, the whole excitement of multiple narrations is lost early on in the film.

It doesn't help that most of the actors in Via Darjeeling fail to deliver credible performances. Kay Kay Menon is top class as is Vinay Pathak, both of whom overshadow everyone else in this ensemble film.

I'm going to go with two out of five for director Arindam Nandy's Via Darjeeling, it's an interesting concept on paper, but only a marginally entertaining film in the end. I'll recommend it, but with reservations.

Rating: 2 / 5 (Average)