This sorry excuse for a film redefines ‘lamentable.’

By Natasha Sethi 

Warning: spoilers ahead! 

An attempted remake of the English movie also titled The Girl on the Train (2016), aka the better out of the two, this Bollywood version was released less than a month ago on Netflix. To say this film, which is based on the psychological thriller novel of the same name by Paula Hawkins, is a complete waste of time would be doing the insult injustice. My personal review will only serve to reiterate the 3.9/10 rating IMDb and the 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

The plot follows Mira (Parineeti Chopra), a perturbed divorcee and full-time alcoholic that spends her daily train commute obsessing over a husband and wife residing in the house she used to live in with her ex-husband, until something shocking happens. Well, the only “shock” is how this film managed to worsen each minute. Mira’s vigorous fixation with Nursat (Aditi Rao Hydari) leads her down the investigative path, where she makes numerous discoveries. It is disclosed that her ex-husband, Shekar (Avinash Tiwari), was having an affair with Nursat. The affair led to Nursat becoming pregnant, before she was murdered, presumably by Shekar, during a heated argument between the two. 

With the aim to distinguish itself from the eponymous novel and the original film, director Ribhu Dasgupta adds his own twist to this modification in terms of narrative, dramatic consistency, subplots, additional characters, the ending, and of course, awfulness. In contrast to the original ending, this Bollywood adaptation ends with Mira shooting a police inspector, Kaur (Kirti Kulhari), and framing her ex-husband Shekar for the murder. 

The film’s release was postponed due to the pandemic, although I personally wish it was postponed eternally. I have hopes that reading this candid review before making the conscious decision to watch this film will prevent you from wasting two precious hours of your life. For me, the only incentive to sit through this horrendous movie was to be able to write an informed review. If subpar overacting and déclassé production is your thing, you still won’t appreciate this motion picture. The only justified rationale to watch this pathetic excuse for a film is to evaluate how deplorable it is. 

Star rating: 1/5

The 1 is for being able to write this review. 

The Girl on the Train can be streamed on Netflix.