Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Sonali Kulkarni, Simone Singh, Sandhya Mridul, Rajat Kapoor, Parvin Dabbas, Vinay Pathak, Prashant Narayanan
Director: Arindham nandy
Rating: 3 on 5

'Via Darjeeling' is an interesting title to an equally captivating film starring the A-list of niche cinema including Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor.

The movie starts with a bumpy taxi ride winding down the scenic roads of Darjeeling with the passenger Ankur (kay kay menon) expressing his dislike for the cabbie's rash
driving. Once they arrive at the destination, a heated argument follows as his wife Rimli (sonali Kulkarni) goes upstairs. The stammering manager cools things between the two angry people. Upstairs Rimli tries persuading Ankur to extend their honeymoon but to no avail. She goes for a shower, he turns on the telly. He gets a phone call and walks out of the room, never to return. So inspector Robin Dutt (Vinay Pathak) attempts to solve the case which also involves a stalker (Parvin Dabbas) who only Rimli can see.

Flash forward a few years to a rainy night in Kolkatta, Robin is chilling with his friends and narrates the mysterious disappearance of Ankur Sharma to them. So we get different points of view from different people like an editor (Rajat Kapoor), his thriller novel addict wife (Simone Singh), a TV actress with several failed marriages behind her (sandhya mridul) and the NYFA returned director aspirant (Prashant Narayanan).Using heir individual life experiences and attitudes, each of them gives their take on Ankur's vanishing act. As the evening progresses, secrets are revealed and important characters are introduced. Revealing anything beyond this would take away the thrill of watching the movie.

'Via Darjeeling' has excellent casting with the actors taking to their characters like a fish takes to water. Vinay Pathak adds another feather to his cap with this nuanced performance of an inspector who smokes unlit cigarettes. Rajat Kapoor and Simone Singh make a balanced couple and deliver equally good performances. Sandhya Mridul is brilliant as the drunken, divorced TV actress. She and Simone have a mutual dislike for each other. Prashant, who calls himself a director after making only two ad films gives a new twist to the Ankur story altogether . Kay Kay menon and Sonali Kulkarni are made to change colours several times during the film and are equally convincing in their diverse portrayals.

The scenic locales of kalimpong and Darjeeling look stunning. Thankfully, this movie is short and taut with some scenes making you wonder what will happen next. Arindham Nandy has succeeded in making the movie interesting. It is not about what actually happened to Ankur, the central theme of the movie is 'what do you think happened?' and the movie sticks to that. There are some loose ends which can be excused like the love angle between Sandhya and Prashant. This movie requires a lot of concentration and it makes you think. It's heartening to see Bollywood churn out well made thrillers. So, though it suffers from poor publicity 'Via Darjeeling' is the route you must take this weekend.