Nothing in Missing is as it seems. In pursuit of an ever-renewable suspense, Mukul Abhyankar’s writing lapses into the ludicrous. The twists and turns in the plot are meant to startle in a very ‘boo’ kind of way. And some of Manoj Bajpayee’s efforts to do the ‘How a Good Actor Plays a Bad Actor to Con the Law’ is just not up to the mark.
You see Manoj playing a sleazeball with a roving eye. For a large part of the film, he has to play a man trying to convince the cop (Annu Kapoor, playing the Mauritian law enforcer with a remarkably researched rigour) that his lies are the truth. In other words, a good actor doing a bad job of bad acting… Complicated? But just the way writer-director Mukul Abhyankar wants the set-up.
At every step, he plants a red herring so red, you feel you are walking through a blood-soaked minefield. Except that there is never an explosion. In fact, the feeble writing and the unconvincing situations would have done the strained suspense in, were it not for Tabu’s magnificent performance.
Playing a grieving mother whose emotions can’t be trusted, she brings a persuasive candour and an everlasting splendour to her role. That incandescent face of hers is lit up like a languorous lantern by cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee. The cinematographer brings more emotion to Tabu’s face than to all the aqueous shots of sun-soaked Mauritius, which never convince us the island is worth a visit.
The film is. And only because of Tabu. Whether responding to the cop’s grilling questions or crumbling under the gaze of masculine censure, the actress proves she is among the finest talents of our times. Any times. If you are a Tabu fan, you would find it easier to handle the incongruities that surface throughout the film. If not, then the going might get tough for you.
Manoj Bajpayee only has fond memories of working in the Mukul Abhyankar-directed Missing.
“I was the co-producer! We shot the entire thing in a resort in Mauritius! This, I believe, was one of the best shoots where I got an opportunity to work with some great talents like Annu Kapoor ji and Tabu! We tried a new thing with my skill, craft, and it paid off so well! I urge people to watch it on Prime Video!”
Tabu’s face is the map of the human heart. In Missing, she plays a distraught mother who, on a visit to Mauritius, ends up with her little daughter kidnapped. Nothing in Missing is as it seems. In pursuit of an ever-renewable suspense, Mukul Abhyankar’s writing lapses into the ludicrous. The twists and turns in the plot are meant to startle in a very ‘boo’ kind of way. Playing a grieving mother whose emotions can’t be trusted, she brings a persuasive candour and an everlasting splendour to her role. That incandescent face of hers is lit up like a languorous lantern by cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee. The cinematographer brings more emotion to Tabu’s face than to all the aqueous shots of sun-soaked Mauritius, which never convince us the island is worth a visit.
Manoj is full of praise for his Missing co-star.
“Tabu and I worked together in Hansal Mehta’s Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar and Akashdeep’s Ghaat many years ago. Now I can say we’ve finally done another film together that does justice to her talent and the talent of Annu Kapoor. Missing is basically about three characters played by the three of us actors.”
He modestly keeps himself missing from the taareef.
“I am never satisfied with my own performances. There’s always a hunger. That’s why I am led to new directors. Mukul Abhyankar, who directed Missing, shocked me. He was constantly excited about the scenes we shot every day. He would call up at the end of the day and say, ‘Sir, yeh aapne kaise kiya?’ Kiya, kyonki aapne diya. An actor needs a director and co-stars who inspire him. I got both in Missing.”
Explains Manoj,
“This is a suspense film in the truest sense. Every twist and turn in the plot is crucial. I never knew it was so difficult to promote a suspense film. I know the media will ask us questions about the plot, and one of us will blurt out something that will give away the suspense. I’ve never been more scared of promoting any of my films.”
Manoj confesses preparing a trailer was a killer.
“We had to be careful with every frame because almost every frame has a suspense element. All three of us—Tabu, Annu Kapoor, and I—seldom had a chance to give so much of ourselves to a film.”
