Alert : Read review only if you have seen the film or you have no problems with the revealing of various scenes done in the review.

Vishal Bharadwaj gave me a image of director who makes films that have that amazing madness, which I have seen people say a lot about Hollywood director "Quentin Tarantino". It was Kaminey with which I got that kind of feel and the promos of 7 Khoon Maaf if for a particular reason excited me the most, then it was this madness only that I could sense in various frames shown in the trailer. So, does Vishal lives upto the madness I expected... He does and that too by a big big way!

7 Khoon Maaf is a story of woman named Susanna (Priyanka Chopra) who tries to find happiness in each of her 7 marriages. She gives her 100% into each relationship but in return she never gets what she expected. How one by one the husbands show their bad sides which she wasnt aware of. And what path Susanna then takes, Is she correct in her chosen path, and why she opts for such path ?

Firstly, Kudos to the 1st shot of the film. It was a random shot but so well thought off to begin the film. The blood on wall gives a very good feeling that Yes, We are in for a dark film. The narration is kept non-linear which is expected when Bharadwaj has already kept the proceedings very predictable in a pattern fixed for each story.

Talking of patterns, you will observe easily that a murder is about to happen with a medium close up shot of all three servants, Maggi(Usha Uthup), Ghalib(dont know his name) and Goonga(dont know his name) shown to us. Then, there is a church bell scene kept in most of the husband story, giving reference to "I have to give up, all my efforts are in vain and I have no other option now".

Coming to each story now ..

1st husband, Edwin Rodriques (Neil Nitin Mukesh) was the best performance by any husband in the film. More credits to the writing especially. Its probably the only story where you would love the story as a whole, and also a reason for that is you are not aware of the patterns that comes for 1st time here.

2nd husband, Jimmy Stetson (John Abraham) was a decent performance. O Mama song makes a powerful impact and wondefully choreographed. The gap between O Mama and Dil dil dil certainly was bit too less.

3rd husband, Wasiullah Khan (Irrfan Khan) was probably the least impressive story of all. Though, my reservations against Bekaaran song is certainly one reason for it, along with the fact that a sudden complete change in behavior of Irrfan Khan made the happenings unintentionally funny. Irrfan Khan though shows his acting talent, notice his mannerisms when he reads shayari from diary, or when he laughs being slapped as a surprise. What actually saves this story, is its culmination. Look out for Priyanka's scene sitting in front of a mirror, a complete mad scene.

4th husband, Nicolai Vronsky (Alekxandr Dyachenko) had nice performance, probably Bharadwaj wanted to give extra humour to this story by making a non-Indian willingly speak Hindi dialogues, and having a recap of 1st three murders narrated to him through the servants. Once again, Look out for my personal fav scene of the film, when Priyanka enters with anger and sarcasm in her tone, and a slight humour with Bharadwaj's vision.

5th husband, Keemat Lal (Anu Kapoor) delivers a very good performance. Very good writing once more. In terms of interest, the screenplay has very less in offer though.

6th husband, Modhusudhon Tarafdar (Naseeruddin Shah) was good. But this time its the screenplay that impresses along with writing. The shift in the regular pattern takes you by the edge, a good way to get your attention in case it got lost in 5 stories till now.

7th husband .. find out yourself.

Okay, these above 7 stories of husbands were the 3rd pattern along with the earlier mentioned two patterns. But what actually keeps this 3rd pattern from stopping you getting bored or giving any sense of predictabilty is the screenplay and narrative of the whole film. Bharadwaj makes sure that each story has a different take, except for probably 1st husband, in rest husband's stories it takes time before you find out why a murder is going to happpen.

Then, the culmination of each story is kept very exciting, a dark feel along with it. Another pattern, murders taking place at night.

The songs are used very well in the narration, O Mama, Yeshu, Awaara being the best used songs. Darling was beautifully choreographed, while O Mama acoustic version sets the mood for the original version. Yeshu and Awaara haunts the way they are inserted into the narration.

Editing is very good, some shots are so beautifully combined creating a magic effect, for instance the one where priyanka fills vivaan's hair with vodka, and next shot is the background music of darling. Bekaaran song could had been shortened though. Cinematography is good, specially the Kashmir scenes or the rain sequence in pre-climax. Screenplay impressive except for 1-2 stories, as a whole its very good..

Background Score is very good, I specially love the theme that plays for Vivaan, that was always my personal fav before the film and still it is. Also, the one during culmination point of Irrfan story was way too good.

Climax is debatable, very differently shown... the idea of keeping dialogue at end credits may not have been entirely right if Bharadwaj considered normal audience in mind, for filmi buffs, it was never a problem. Its not a tough climax to understand, but people may have different takes on it, very much like Kaminey.

Coming to rest performances ..

Usha Utthup, Goonga and Ghalib were superb in their supporting roles. Especially Ghalib who impresses with his acting. The 1st interaction scene between Goonga and Ghalib, the interval sequence and the scene with 4th husband including all 3 servants were among the best ones of the film too.

Ruskin Bond is also visible in a special appearance...

Now, some words on what could possibly be the forthcoming new sensational actor, son of Naseeruddin Shah, Vivaan Shah makes his debut. He is the narrator of the entire film, and hence his role is written in a way that he gets included in each husband's story. He is given the name of  'Sugar' by Priyanka, one can easily say that the name very well suited him. Notice his expressions, his growth in appearance and maturing as a person. He also has a transition from childhoold to around 45 yrs. He has got some excellent dialogue lines to deliver too. But its the way he enacts his role, that I just feel like praising him a lot.

Finally, the lady herself, Priyanka Chopra .. she delivers her 2nd best performance after Fashion. I am being a bit hard, else this is easily her best performance. Thing to note is how well she transforms into a complete new role, because the husbands are just portraying their one side, but Priyanka has to get into that different world of her husband every time, and how well she does it. Ofcourse make up person gets a due too here, though I must admit her make up during 5th husband was not upto the mark, the skin wasnt looking good or real if I can say. If I have to pick her best get ups in the film, then it would be 1st one,4th one,6th one and ofcourse 7th one.


Overall, 7 Khoon Maaf represents the dark side of Susanna, her world where she wanted happiness out of her husbands which she never got. How fate had its laugh on her every time, how she was deprived of that one right person in her life. If you can notice these aspects in the film, then you have very well understood what Bharadwaj wanted to show through the film. Its not any message oriented film, but its not a merely entertaining film either. Its a dark take on a person's misery with blend of humour and thrill.  Apart from few shortcomings the film has, it would stand among the best films of 2011 easily.


Rating : 4.25 Out of 5