By Murtuza Iqbal
Parineeti Chopra starrer The Girl On The Train is based on Paula Hawkins' 2015 novel of the same name. In 2016, a Hollywood movie based on the novel was made. It featured Emily Blunt and for her performance in the film, she was nominated at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA).
The Hindi film adaptation of the book was slated to hit the big screens in May 2020, but due to the pandemic, it was postponed, and now, finally has been released on Netflix.
The Girl On The Train is about Mira Kapoor (Parineeti Chopra) who is a lawyer and she is living a happy life with her husband Shekhar (Avinash Tiwary). But, one accident changes her life, she becomes an alcoholic and later her husband gives her a divorce.
Mira travels by train every day and looks at her favourite house on the way where Nushrat (Aditi Rao Hydari) is happily living with her husband. Mira feels a connection with Nushrat, and one day the latter goes missing, and later it is revealed that she has been killed. Mira gets involved in the case and then the movie moves forward with the mystery that who killed Nushrat?
I haven’t read the book, but I have watched the Hollywood film The Girl On The Train, and thankfully, it’s not a copy-paste thing here. There are a couple of scenes that are similar, but it’s not exactly the same. A lot of things have been changed here and more drama has been added to make it appealing for the Indian audiences.
The movie starts very well, the first 45 minutes are super engaging, but then it starts falling a bit. Finally, in the last 30-40 minutes it picks up once again, and the climax is surely the highlight of the movie. Even if you have read the book and watched the Hollywood film, the climax will surprise you because it has been changed here.
Talking about performances, Parineeti Chopra is good in her role. There are a few scenes where she could have done better, but she has performed well. Kirti Kulhari is strictly average, but Aditi Rao Hydari has given an impressive performance. Avinash Tiwary is fantastic and it’s his performance that stands out. Tota Roy Chowdhury has been wasted.
The songs were not required here, but it’s a Bollywood film, so there have to be songs. Apart from Mahi Mera Ranjha, no other songs leave a mark.
Overall, The Girl On The Train is an interesting film with a surprising climax. It surely deserves a watch.
Ratings: 3/5
Watch the trailer here…
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