The Great Indian Murder And The Return Of The Whodunnits

The pandemic has clearly changed the viewing habits of a lot of Indians. Or have they really? The golden era (read: black and white films) had some amazing murder mystery thrillers, the likes of Woh Kaun Thi, Bees Saal Baad and Kohra. Even in sepia tinted films like Gumnaam and Mera Saaya kept people hooked onto the screens till the very end. In Hollywood most of the murder mysteries were inspired and adapted from books written by Agatha Christie. And who can forget Sir Alfred Hitchcock and his movies? Suspense, as a genre kept people interested in movies till the end and there was a certain amount of repeat value to the films as well.

The Great Indian Murder | Disney+ Hotstar

However, this trend of suspense and murder mysteries went down when alternate and intelligent cinema took over, mainly in the 80s.

In the 90s, most of the films even in Hollywood sunk without a trace such as Identity or Shattered ( which inspired Bollywood films, as well..but we will keep it a secret for now).

The 90s was an era of dramas and romantic comedy movies and series ending on cliffhangers which would make you yearn for the sequels or the next season. Even in Bollywood except for few thrillers, most of the murder mystery movies did not find an audience.

But in the world of OTT, there is a fanbase for everything. We saw how some classic whodunnits got remakes and were loved and viewed widely by the audiences. Daniel Craig starring Knives Out became a runaway hit and even though it released in theatres, the word of mouth spread fast and soon people thronged the theatres to watch it. It grossed $311.4 million worldwide against a $40 million budget and even when it hit the OTTs, it became one of the most watched films. For the fans who loved it, Knives Out 2 will be releasing hopefully in the second half of 2022.

The Great Indian Murder | Disney+ Hotstar

That brings us to the Indian makers who tried recreating Ittefaq but fell short of bringing back Rajesh Khanna¡¯s golden touch to the remake.

Mrs Serial Killer was released on OTTs, but the movie lacked depth and the plot was so ludicrous, that we can only marvel at how a group of people actually thought that it could be made into a full-fledged movie. But, The Great Indian Murder has opened to raving reviews and everyone seems to have loved Richa Chaddha and Pratik Gandhi in this whodunnit, which is a stark reminder of how whodunnits used to be. The series is based on Vikram Sampath¡¯s Six Suspects and revolves around the murder of a certain Vicky Rai. The suspects are a blend of corrupt politicians to petty thieves to a man with a mental disorder.

It ends on a cryptic note and we can only hope to get more of it from the second season, if it ever comes out. Previously Raveena Tandon¡¯s Aranyak also delved in similar whodunnit territory, but it had a mashup of almost all the tropes of an Indian setting and hence, it may not have worked.

The Great Indian Murder | Disney+ Hotstar

The best part about watching murder mysteries is that most of us love playing detectives ourselves by guessing the murderer or keeping an eye on easter eggs and picking up clues. Clearly, there is a dearth of shows such as Castle, Bones, The Mentalist, Psych and we hope that filmmakers in India and abroad are listening and can bring us more bingeworthy mysteries.