There’s a ready audience, all that’s needed is a director to bring it to the screen
Subhash K Jha (DNA; August 31, 2015)


As sensational as it gets
The case is top-of-the-mind right now. It’s likely to be talked about months from now. A mother allegedly killing her own daughter? Gone are the days of Mother India, call this one Murder India!

Who should helm this?
If you want a blockbuster, Mohit Suri would be your best bet. The guy’s handled dark characters, their complicated lives and gruesome murders in Ek Villain rather well. We’d have said Anurag Kashyap, but that film would take forever. And who wants that? Best possible low-budget quickie? Madhur Bhandarkar’s your man. Hell, he might even call the film Media (because Indrani was heading a news channel. Go figure!).

Indrani who?
The actress who’d be perfect to play ‘Mother Murder’ Indrani Mukerjea would undoubtedly be Bipasha Basu. Why? Ticks all the boxes. Older screen husband? Check. Played a femme fatale? More times than she could care to count. And she’d have the bulk dates needed for a quickie.

Why a quickie?
It would have to be one, to cash in on the currently high curiosity factor. Maar hathoda, loha garam hai and all that!

Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke - 1963
Based on the infamous Nanavati trial in 1959 this real-life tale of infidelity rocked Mumbai’s Page 3 populace back in the 1950s. The very chic Leela Naidu played the unfaithful wife who is caught redhanded by her husband Sunil Dutt with his best friend. In a fit of rage he murders the friend. The film altered the real-life story to accommodate our filmy tradition. According to the film the wife dies to redeem her izzat. Legendary actress Sadhana’s husband RK Nayyar directed this bold, but compromised film.

Rahasya - 2015
The Aarushi Talwar murder case was given a fictional twist in this well-crafted whodunit. Director Manish Gupta only borrowed the core of the original and constructed a fictional account around the real-life murder.

No One Killed Jessica - 2011
Raj Kumar Gupta’s vivid portrayal of the Jessica Lal murder case. Memorable mainly for Vidya Balan and Rani Mukerji’s portrayal as the murder victim’s sister and an investigative journalist, respectively.

The Stoneman Murders - 2009
Based on the real-life Stoneman murders that rocked Mumbai in the 1980s, director Manish Gupta carved a gritty tale of fear over the city. Gupta went into intense research before plunging into the film.

Achanak - 1973
Again inspired by the Nanavati murder case, Vinod Khanna in his career’s best performance played an army officer who returns from battle ground to see his wife on another man’s arms. Rather than kill the lover, the army man kills his wife. The film was a songless homage to love gone bust.

Sau Crore - 1991
Dev Anand’s take on the daylight murder of badminton player Syed Modi where his wife and her lover were prime suspects. Not quite a memorable thriller. But noticeable for attempting to piece together a complicated crime of passion.

Not A Love Story - 2011
Contrary to the Nanavati murder saga Ram Gopal Varma’s recreation of the Neeraj Grover murder case went into gruesome graphic gory and nauseating detail. We could almost smell the blood on the marble floor of the murder’s apartment. Too realistic to be palatable.

Love Affair - 2016
Recreating the Nanavati murder case all over again, Kalki Koechlin plays the unfaithful wife. Soni Razdan directs. Two male directors have done the same story in the past. It’d be interesting to see a female director’s perspective on the real-life crime.