In today’s day and age, celebrities are very particular about their conduct especially while making public appearances. If the paparazzi for some reason are nowhere to be seen, the aam junta equipped with cell phones and tablets will be out there recording the celebrity’s moves and one inappropriate gesture from the star can lead them to be in the news for the wrong reasons. But there was a time when the media fraternity wasn’t so huge and news took time to travel. And the celebrities were reported to have openly made shocking statements and even beaten up one another, in full public view. The Xpose tells the tale of such an era. If it was solely about film industry of that time and the rivalry prevalent, it might have made for a great film. Sadly, the writers (Himesh Reshammiya, Jainish Ejardar) added a murder mystery angle in the tale. And that’s where The Xpose fell like a pack of cards!

The story of the movie: The film is set in 1967-68. Ravi Kumar (Himesh Reshammiya) is an ex-cop-turned-superstar of the South who is all set to make waves in Bollywood with Subba Prasad’s (Ananth Narayan Mahadevan) Ujjwal Nirmal Sheetal. Subba signs Zara (Sonali Raut) in the film and presents her as Bollywood’s first sex symbol. Zara’s roommate at one point was Chandni (Zoya Afroz) who also bags a big film, Bobby Chadha’s (Ashwin Dhar) Reena Mera Naam. Incidentally, both films release on the same day and one of the films fails badly thanks to the sabotage done by the makers of the other film. At a post-awards mega bash, Zara falls from the roof and dies. Soon, it emerges that Zara is murdered.



The opening credits are funky while the beginning sequence, where the characters are introduced, are quite impressive actually. Himesh Reshammiya’s entry in the narrative does spoil things as he fails to look convincing. Also, the scene where he’s shown beating goons in a Southern film is embarrassing. Nevertheless, one still doesn’t mind as the goings-on make for an entertaining watch. Everything goes fine till the scene where Ujjwal Nirmal Sheetal and Reena Mera Naam release on the same day (though in between, there’s the Surroor track which is lovely but is badly incorporated in the film). But then comes the intermission point which comes up all of a sudden and fails to make sense.

Post-intermission, the party scene is engaging. And then the murder happens and from here, the film goes on a downhill. The courtroom sequence is disgusting and fails to look real in any respect. What’s more, a murder suspect is jailed despite being proven that he has not killed Zara! Moreover, the hotel where the party takes place resembles a palace and is next to the sea shore. One can easily make out that such structure never existed in the then Bombay and looks quite fake. Also, the direction is haphazard which further results in the film’s downfall.

Himesh Reshammiya puts in a lot of effort but just fails to look convincing as a reigning, arrogant superstar. He does entertain in the beginning portions when he’s shooting with Subba but one wishes that some other actor with a better screen presence had played the role. He is very bad in the sequence where he fights goons in Salman Khan-style and also, in the ‘Ice Cream’ song, he goes ‘pam pam pam’ that doesn’t seem cool from any angle. He surely can act well, as proved with Khiladi 786, and I hope he takes up such roles in future.



Both Sonali Raut and Zoya Afroz deserve praise. Both look beautiful and sexy and perform very well. Yo Yo Honey Singh (Kenny Damania aka KD) is better than Himesh and needs to polish his acting skills a bit more to be passed off as a good actor. Ananth Narayan Mahadevan gives a great performance. Ashwin Dhar is fine and raises laughs in the second half. Nakul Vaid (Virman Shah) leaves a mark. Adil Hussain is wasted and serves no purpose in the narrative. Jesse Randhawa (Shabnam Rai) doesn’t get any scope. Rajesh Sharma (Inspector Grover) is dependable as always. Same goes for Dayashankar Pandey (Naidu). Kanika Dang (D’Silva), Bharat Dabholkar (Desai), Naresh Suri (Mishra) and Kunal Thakur (Ronnie; Chandni’s co-star) do well. Irrfan Khan (Alec D’Costa) is dashing but one wonders why does a black ticket seller suddenly starts telling a tale (he’s the sutradhar).

Himesh Reshammiya’s music is great and one of the reasons why the film has been talked about. Ice Cream and Catch Me If You Can are peppy and well picturised. Dard Dilo Ke, Surroor and Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara are beautiful compositions but not well shot or incorporated in the film. Background score (Himesh Reshammiya, Sanjoy Salil Chowdhury) is apt. Production design and costumes don’t seem authentic and doesn’t always have the 60s feel. Himesh Reshammiya and Jainish Ejardar’s story and screenplay is fine, though they could have done away with the murder and instead come up with a story on film industry of the 60s and it’s dark secrets. Still, it could have been made into a fine film but Ananth Narayan Mahadevan’s direction fails to do so. Several scenes don’t look convincing and are also bewildering. For instance, why does Ravi Kumar go to Paris in the second half? Why didn’t Ravi and Chandni confess their love to each other? There wasn’t any strong reason to explain why they didn’t reveal their feelings to each other. And as mentioned above, why does a suspect who hasn’t been involved in the murder is jailed?! To top it all, the execution is haphazard, especially in the second half when the plot gets shaky. Also, it isn’t difficult to guess the murderer. Instead, one can guess his identity before the intermission itself.

On the whole, The Xpose could have been another The Dirty Picture, especially if the makers had solely concentrated on the scandalous incidents of the 60s Bollywood. Instead, they added a flawed murder mystery, included inexplicable and needless developments in the script and shot sequences that fail to look convincing. Himesh Reshammiya is a miscast, Yo Yo Honey Singh is okay but the two girls show promise. Watch the film if Godzilla doesn’t interest you or if you are curious about the film, like I was. Or else, give this film a royal miss!

My rating - ** out of 5!

WILL HIMESH SUCCEED AS AN ACTOR WITH THE XPOSE?

The Xpose never made any noise while it’s being made. But it caught everyone’s attention the moment its theatrical trailer was out. Most of them ridiculed the promo and lead actor Himesh Reshammiya’s appearance (he has lost oodles of weight and indeed looks a bit odd) and his dialogue delivery. Also, the design of the poster and Himesh’s ‘cheers’ moment immediately was dubbed a copy of Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Great Gatsby. But Yo Yo Honey Singh, who is seen as the villain, was appreciated and few songs of the film too picked up fast enough.

The Xpose is set in the 60s and revolves around a murder of an actress. The film industry serves as a backdrop and the makers have attempted to incorporate several real life instances and character inspirations in the film. The film’s leading heroines, Zoya Afroz and Sonali Raut, are shown to be rivals and reportedly, they have taken their rivalry off-screen as well and fought with each other during promotions. It seems like a bad publicity stunt and thankfully didn’t have the ‘breaking news’ honour. Sonali also does a Zeenat Aman’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram stint by wearing a white saree in the film. Sadly, the scene has been shortened by the Censors.

The buzz for the film is moderate and hence, a moderate opening can be expected. That it releases tomorrow (May 16) which is a counting day won’t affect the film much. After all, not everyone will be glued to their TV screens to check the election results and they can always do so on their smartphones and tablets. Moreover, majority of people watching the film in the morning shows especially are youth who might not be very inclined with the election results. However, a section of moviegoers are going to stay miles away from the film and this can affect the film, especially if reports are bad. On the positive side, the budget is reasonable (Rs 15 crore) and hence, recovery won’t be a big issue.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE XPOSE AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; April 3, 2014)

In director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan’s upcoming release, The Xpose, almost every character has been inspired by yesteryear Bollywood actors. So, while Himesh Reshammiya’s Ravi Kumar — a suspended cop-turned-superstar — has been modelled on Raaj Kumar, Yo Yo Honey Singh’s Kenny Damania is based on Pran.

The story starts when two rival actresses have simultaneous releases — Reena Mera Naam starring Chandni (Zoya Afroz, Miss India 2013 second runner-up) and Ujjwal Nirmal Sheetal featuring Zara (Sonali Raut). Zara’s character has been inspired by Zeenat Aman, and Chandni’s, by Parveen Babi. The narrative gathers pace when a catfight and a murder takes place at an afterawards party.

In a special appearance, Irrfan plays Alec D’Costa, one of the biggest black marketeers of the 1960s, while Adil Hussain will be seen as Rajan Anna, modelled on don Varadarajan. Says Ananth, “Deep within, the film is a violent love story which leads to desire, scandal and murder. The music is also one of the highlights.” The film’s theatrical trailer launches today on HRMusikOfficial.

The Xpose, produced by Vipin Reshammiya and presented by HR Musik, releases May 23.