A Modern Day Classic Chehere (2015)

Evocative and eloquent, this suspenseful relationship drama is set in England. Based in the year 1952, the story is revolves around Tarana (Manisha Koirala), a yesteryear time Indian actress of the silent movie era, and her wheel-chair bound sister (a recent car accident), Amaanat (Divya Dutta).

After Tarana’s career took a nose-dive the sisters have been forced to move into a British countryside home. Unable to sing or dance well, Tarana, a good actress when it came to emoting, could not cope with the advent of talkies and singing stars. Even her benefactor, playboy producer RaiSaahab (Jackie Shroff) agreed to a replacement, in tune with the times. She now lives a life caught in a time warp, singing and dancing to her sister’s songs, preening, melancholic, nostalgic and resigned to her fate.

Some 20 years after quitting films, Tarana throws a birthday party at her mansion, with a select group of invitees attending. They include RaiSaahab and his wife (Hrishita Bhatt), an actress who used to be a chorus dancer while Tarana was the star, Dr. Nigam (Gulshan Grover), a man madly in love with Tarana, who migrated to England just so that he could be around his beloved, Tarana’s ‘adopted daughter’ (Geeta Vig) and her boy-friend (Aarya Babbar), a forensic expert specialising in poisons.

There are Indian servants in the house and a British butler. The retinue includes one who is like a family-member (Bob Brahmabhatt) and another who is a garrulous bumpkin (Rakesh Bedi), and they all keep squabbling. So, when Amaanat is found dead in her bed, there are at least ten suspects. Is her death of natural causes or is it murder? Can the real culprit be exposed and brought to book?