The Xpose Review

Himesh Reshammiya keeps coming back to contest the box office elections by releasing one self-produced film after another. He just doesn’t quit. So after multiple defeats in different terrains with films like Aap Ka Suroor, Karzzzzz, Radio, Damadamm and Khiladi 786, he is now back with The Xpose (the title is deliberately typo ridden we are told). Expectations admittedly aren’t huge. But is as it as bad the trailers have made it look? Let’s dissect.

Story: Ravi Kumar is a South Indian film Superstar who was previously an inspector. He has now landed up in Bombay to capture the film industry booths there as a leading hero. He is an arrogant narcissist and most of the people who meet him loathe him. The twist arises when an actress plunges to her death, which we are told is a murder. There are a plethora of suspects who could be responsible for the murder? So it is up to our hero Ravi Kumar (Himesh Reshammiya) to find out the main culprit through his special exit poll. Is he able to find the murderer? The answer is as predictable as you are thinking of right now.

Review: The campaign manager of the film (Ananth Mahadevan, the director we mean) is going for a special status with this film of his. The its-so-bad-its-good kind of a cult status. And to a large extent he is able to manage to do that. The Xpose lacks a coherent screenplay, a fluid tone and most of the sequences feel like they have been jumbled together to form a film. Just like a few parties make a coalition to form muddled governments. There are numerous references to the Bollywood of 1960s. Some of the referenced might not go down well with the bollywood bigwigs who were active in that era.

The Xpose’s sets are highly influenced by that of the recent Hollywood hit The Great Gatsby. They are stylish and provide the only laudable aspect of the laughably unimaginative film of the year. The editing is highly inconsistent. The Xpose would have done well with a good soundtrack but it falls flat there too. Himesh really should not have been juggling so many departments of the film.

Acting: The Xpose is basically a platform to showcase the talents of its hero and producer Himesh Reshammiya. The close-up shots of him throughout the film make you squeasy and uncomfortable. Himesh’s lean frame suits his character as much as Eskimos are suited for the temperatures of India. This is not to say that the film would have become better without Himesh in it. No, it would have still remained as terrible and as unintentionally funny as the end product suggests. The other actors in the film are decent. Yo Yo Honey Singh debuts in Hindi cinema with The Xpose and he looks wicked and conniving from the get go. It is hard not to impulsively think of him as the killer! Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain are in this film probably only because of the fat pay cheque that was promised to them. Zoya Afroz and Sonali Raut are cringeworthy in their respective roles.

Conclusion: The Xposé sets new standards of awfulness. It provides plenty of unintentional laughter through the dialogues spoken by Himesh’s character. Some of the dialogues are so ridiculous that they point to an inner conspiracy by the dialogue writer to troll the filmmakers. If you are in the mood to play with the sanity of your mind, The Xposé would be a perfect choice for you.

Box Office: The Xposé is going to take a below average opening. We think the public mandate will be against the film. Although, a few viewers might check it out just to see and experience the awfulness of it all.

Positives:

• The end credits
• The sets
• Unintentional humour through the dialogues

Negatives:

• Himesh Reshammiya the lead actor is so out of his depth that you can’t help but feel sad for him
• Pretty much the whole film
• No consistent tone, fluidity and editing is evident

Rating: