What Is the Story of Silence, Can You Hear It About?
‘Silence, Can You Hear It‘ is the latest original film from the prolific stables of ZEE5. It is a murder thriller mystery plot in the backdrop of posh South Mumbai.
The dead body of Pooja (Barkha Singh) is found. In the jungles of Khargar by a group of trekkers. Her bereaved father, Justice Choudhary (Shishir Sharma), enlists the services of a relentless police officer, ACP AvinashVerma (ManojBajpayee), to crack the case and catch the killer.
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Avinash assigned a dedicated team to solve the case. Sanjana Bhatia played by (Prachi Desai), Amit Chauhan played by (SahilVaid), and Raj Gupta played by (Vaquar).
Pooja’s last stopover was at her friend Kavita’s house. Her husband Ravi Khanna played by (Arjun Mathur) is the last person who saw her alive. How Avinash gets to the bottom of the whodunit forms the rest of the story.
ManojBajpayee doesn’t miss a single beat or sound a discordant note in his performance as AvinashVerma, the police officer who resorts to unconventional means in his crime-solving endeavors. The character reminds one of his Shrikant Tiwari from ‘The Family Man, ‘a similarity that can’t help maybe.
Prachi Desai has a welcome presence in her comeback film. Delivering a great and a flawless performance in her usual calm, reassuring style.
Arjun Mathur is on the edge, jumping enough to attract suspicion. His character could’ve been written better. SahilVaid and Waquar lend good support with decent performances. Shishir Sharma and Denzil Smith, as ACP Verma’s reporting Commissioner of Police, bring the necessary flow to the proceedings.
Our Verdict about the Story of Silence, Can You Hear It?
‘Silence, Can You Hear It’ is as run-of-the-mill a murder mystery as it possibly can be. The storyline is nothing new, nor is there anything innovative. About the treatment given to its telling.
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The plot has lots of loopholes. Any resemblance of an intelligent, twisty murder mystery that leaves the viewer in awe. With its cleverness leaks out of those loopholes.
It also serves to make the detectives appear like bungling amateurs instead of seasoned crime-busters. They take up almost half the film’s runtime to arrive at the most basic yet crucial fact about the murder – the location of Pooja’s murder – something even a sixth-grader could conclude in the blink of an eye.
Silence… Can You Hear It – ZEE5 Review
Besides the loopholes-ridden plot, another struggling issue with the film is the amount of pause and montony in the narrative.
Plot points are being unnecessarily repeated; random shots, needless skirmishes, inessential characters all weigh the storyline down. Several film sequences come across as unnecessary.
And seem to be added to lend substance to the wafer-thin plot. Instead, they drag down the pace and grip of the storyline, leaving it slow, sketchy, and saddled with loose ends. The ‘Sunny’ episode is one such sequence.
Yet, despite these shortcomings, the film makes for a good watch. Two things command credit for this. The first is Manoj Bajpayee’s charismatic presence and excellent performance. The other is the dialogues of the film. The dialogues are excellent. Written by Aban Bharucha Deohans, they are neither filmy.
Nor exaggerated, and thankfully, not dramatic. The dialogues are well-written, impactful, and carefully constructed with thoughtfulness and insight.
All said and done, Silence, Can You Hear It is suitable as a one-time watch, especially if you’re a fan of whodunits, well-written dialogues, and Manoj Bajpayee.
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Music and Other Departments?
Gaurav’s background music is composed perfectly. To lend heft to the goings-on in the narrative. Arvind Singh’s camerawork captures the enigma and mystery of the story well and the tiny nuances that make Manoj Bajpayee’s ACP Verma a compelling character.
Sandeep Kumar Sethy’s editing could have been a much better job to be done. Sharper editing would have done a world of good to ironing out glitches.
