Kahaani

This film from India is written and directed by Sujoy Ghosh (English captions).

We first see our (very pregnant) heroine Kahaani (played by Vidya Venkatesan-Bagchi) at the Kolkata airport where she catches a cab. The driver is surprised that she wants to go directly to the police station instead of a hotel. She wants the police to help find her husband, who left London and was never heard from again. One policeman (played by Parambrata Chatterjee) takes pity on her and helps whenever he is off duty.

After she rents a derelict room, we watch it improve: it becomes cleaner, tidier, more livable. She notes that the advertisement promised "hot water," so the landlord shouts for a cute little neighbor boy. He is instructed to bring hot water for the memsahib (she IS from London), which he promptly does. We see what a charmer Kahaani can be, any time someone is offended, she turns on the charm and immediately soothes hurt feelings, so that little boy falls under her spell.

As she and that policeman gather information, we get the sense that they are closing in on an answer, but we also realize that there is a larger mystery here: everyone they interview insists they have never seen the man. One of the men the police interview tells them that he himself did the training so he is positive that they will never find the mysterious villain who might be involved.

We have at least three people to root for: the policeman, the woman looking for her husband, and that little boy.

I love these colorful Bollywood pictures and this one does not disappoint. Although I saw this first on a DVD from the city library, I quickly bought a copy for my own collection.