Vodka Diaries Movie Review: Kay Kay Menon impresses in this gritty psychological thriller

Rating – 3

Cast – Kay Kay Menon, Mandira Bedi, Raima Sen, Sharib Hashmi

Director – Kushal Srivastava

Genre – Thriller

Storyline

In the misty town of Manali, ACP Ashwini Dixit attempts to solve a series of mysterious murders happening in a single night, which might be connected to the nightclub Vodka Diaries.

The inflexion point comes when the officer's wife (played by Bedi) is abducted. Naturally, time is running out for Dikshit and he must catch hold of the person behind these ruthless actions before it gets too late.

Amidst solving five murders, Dixit gets a call from an unknown woman (Raima Sen) who tells him that only he can connect the dots and save his wife.

Will he be able to solve the mystery?

The premise may sound interesting, and it is, but there are a lot of loopholes.

Performances

Kay Kay Menon shines throughout, portraying a variety of emotions. Suffering from split-personality disorder in the film, Menon impresses the audience with his acting skills.

Mandira Bedi who last played the wife of a cop (Akshaye Khanna) in Ittefaq, is playing the wife of another cop (Menon) in this film. She definitely shows her talent, going from a romantic to a depressed and angry wife.

Raima Sen is a major disappointment. With not much of screen time, she doesn't add value to the film.

And finally talking about Sharib Hashmi who plays Kay Kay's assistant in the film, here's a man who brings out the humour once in a while, which in the first half looked good, but his character went downhill in the second half.

Positives

The background score is engaging and on point. It will scare you at times, but will also give you a sense of what's going to happen.

Shot in the snowclad mountains of Manali, Vodka Diaries definitely throws the audience some dark suspense. "Park your Demons in the Dark" — the tagline of the movie — justifies the film and Kay Kay's character.

The director starts the film on a promising note with Kay Kay Menon being an unusual cop. The way Menon shows his intensity in the scenes will push you to solve the mystery with him.

Negatives

As I mentioned earlier, Raima Sen is a total waste in the film. It is difficult to make out whether she is trying to be seductive or scary!

Towards the climax, the director reveals her real side, which is a total blah scene. (No spoilers here.)

As for the supporting cast, they were just some college students and definitely not actors. A lot of continuity issues also surfaced in the film.

One moment Raima Sen is in the car and the other moment she's in Vodka Diaries, dancing! And why was that song bang in the middle of suspense? Unnecessary.

Verdict

Kushal Srivastava's debut directorial is not that bad. It's something different. I've been hearing that it's a rip-off of the Hollywood film Shutter Island, but honestly, I haven't seen that film and hence could rate this one without any preconceived notions.