Ankur Arora Murder Case: Topical And Truthfully Told

Cast: Tisca Chopra, Arjun Mathur, Kay Kay Menon, Paoli Dam
Director: Suhail Tatari
Music: Chirantan Bhatt
Producer: Vikram Bhatt

I strongly believe that motherhood makes you as strong as it makes you weak. A part of you is ready to fight to any extent for your child while the other half can’t tolerate a single scratch on them and breaks down easily on their smallest of hurt. I had avoided watching Ankur Arora Murder Case when it was released knowing very well that it involved a mother’s fight against medical fraternity who take her son’s life due to negligence and over confidence. I wasn’t ready then to sit through this whole grief and I wasn’t ready now as well. But the movie kept hovering in my thoughts as a movie I had to watch no matter what..

Emotions apart that made me cry bucketful, it’s a very topical and truthfully told story. We all have been through such a point in life when despite emergencies you need to wait for hours for formalities or payments at hospitals. Movies like Munnabhai MBBS and Ek Doctor Ki Maut have tried to highlight hospital and medical fraternity issues.

But AAMC differentiates itself by not mixing up too many issues. It goes straight for the main case and doctors’ dilemma to tell or not to tell the truth to the victim’s family and face the wrath. Many of my doctor friends may have faced such resentful family members who blame doctors for losing their family members, Most of the time the actions are in a moment of despair and not because doctors are the real culprits. Doctors take it with a pinch of salt. Every case has to be treated as the most important case be it appendix or cancer treatment.

Paoli Dam did a decent job along with Manish Chaudhary (Defence Lawyer) who together made a very strong statement on the ethical law practices.

Well, the movie is not just about medical fraternity. To me, it came across as a movie on professional ideologies and ethics be it medicine or law. It’s very ably supported by talents team of actors who leave no stone unturned to give their best, no matter how small their role is.

For example, the movie shows a few minutes of sorrow on Dr. Asthana’s face when he knows he has lost Ankur. He very successfully projects himself as a human with emotions and the fact that he does feel sad for the loss of an innocent child’s life. But in a flash, his selfish agenda covers it up and he becomes once again this arrogant doctor out to save his reputation. That slight transition of emotions was wonderful and not sure if it was observed by viewers. But that’s where talented actors like Kay Kay Menon win. They take care of the smallest of nuances in their characters that make them a treat to watch.

Ankur Arora Murder Case film is not just about medical fraternity. It is a movie on professional ideologies & ethics. http://t.co/CGwbWBbUje

— Learning&Creativity (@LearnNCreate) January 30, 2015

Paoli Dam did a decent job along with Manish Chaudhary (Defence Lawyer) who together made a very strong statement on the ethical law practices. It bothers me to think what if she hadn’t been jilted by her lover Manish Chaudhary  just then? She would have gone ahead to cheat her clients and stretch the AAMC for ages and against their favor. The grey shades her character wears are reflective of society and lawyers to a certain extent.

Tisca Chopra’s sensitive and touching portrayal of a mother weakened by her love for her dead son and yet forging ahead bravely to fight the system to make her son’s death an example for other hospitals to not to be negligent, made me cry.

Tisca Chopra’s  sensitive and touching portrayal of a mother weakened by her love for her dead son and yet forging ahead bravely to fight the system to make her son’s death an example for other hospitals to not to be negligent, made me cry. Yes, she made me cry a great deal.

Arjun Mathur and Vishakha Singh give a fresh pairing and play the interns very realistically. Both have a couple of good films under their belts and this one is one fo them for sure. While I noticed Arjun in Luck by Chance and I AM (quite a daring act with Rahul Bose there), he nailed the role of the whistle bowing conscientious medico with elan. Vishakha was good in Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se and Fukrey and played out her part decently. Their tussle between choosing career over ideologies made a very interesting premises as well.

Overall, the movie left very strong impression. The emotions of grief and elation on the victory and how it came to the mother and his team were welcome relief after waiting to watch it for couple of years. I liked the way the movie doesn’t get preachy at any points except when Arjun tries to convince Vishakha to support him. It doesn’t have long monologues but subtle references on what ought not to be done.

There are also subtle signals that viewers notice but the movie doesn’t digress from the main focus to tell the stories of those characters. No time is wasted on defining a relationship between Ankur’s single mother and her friend. Similarly, not much hue and cry has been made on the live in relationship of medicos but it has been shown that they are discreet.

It’s a pity this film did not get enough recognition across awards nights. The name itself may have kept people like me away from theaters who didn’t want to cry when they want to laugh at the name of entertainment. Hats off to the team to attempt and come up with a great film. Highly recommended if you haven’t watched it yet.

My favourite scene: When Tisca Chopra says sorry to Ankur for not taking his stomach pain seriously when he was having it since morning.

Shakun Rana Narang is Administrator of Moviemaniacs Facebook Group. The opinions shared by the reviewers are their personal opinions and does not reflect the collective opinion of Moviemaniacs Facebook Group or Learning and Creativity emagazine. All pictures used in this article are movie stills from the Internet

Watch the Theatrical Trailer of Ankur Arora Murder Case

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About the Author

Shakun Narang ( 18 Posts)

Shakun Narang is passionate about people, dancing, music, kids and their safety rights, traveling and city exploring. She is a perpetual dreamer and dream-chaser, a friend for life and companion for all conversations and part time Agony Aunt. A moviebuff and bookworm herself she is actively working on her Facebook communities Moviemaniacs and Bookoholics to be that happy place where people bursting with views and reviews around movies and books can meet and mingle with like minded people.
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