Silence... Can You Hear It?
- Director
- Aban Bharucha Deohans
- Studio
- Zee StudiosCandid Creations
- Release Date
- 25 February 2021
- Running Time
- 136 min
- Language
- Hindi
- Country
- India
Review
Anurag Kashyap's "Silence... Can You Hear It?" attempts to construct a procedural thriller around a seemingly straightforward murder investigation that spirals into institutional corruption and personal vendettas. The film's central mystery—a young woman's death on a hilltop and the subsequent unraveling of connections between a disgraced cop, a powerful political figure, and shadowy accomplices—contains the seeds of compelling drama. The forensic detail about copper traces, the layered suspect pool including everyone from family servants to political operatives, and the complication of a second victim falling into a coma suggest ambition in plotting. However, the execution struggles under the weight of its own convolutions. While Kashyap's signature style of institutional critique shines through, the investigation becomes increasingly muddled as it progresses, with revelations that feel more convenient than earned. The supporting characters blur together in a haze of interrogation scenes, and the film's attempts to balance police procedural tension with political intrigue dilute rather than deepen either thread.
What saves the film from complete derailment is its refusal to offer easy answers or clean resolutions. Avinash's struggle against both his own department's indifference and powerful figures willing to obstruct justice has genuine thematic weight, even when the narrative mechanics creak. The action sequences—particularly the moments when investigation tips into phys
Storyline
So basically, this cop named Avinash—he's not exactly a golden boy at his station, but he gets thrown into this high-profile murder case because a retired judge personally vouches for him. A young woman named Pooja gets killed on a hilltop, and everyone's treating it like a massive deal since her dad's this important retired justice. The whole thing kicks off when four college kids stumble upon her body, and the forensic team finds these weird copper traces on her wound. Avinash immediately knows this wasn't some random killer—whoever did this knew her.
What's interesting is how tangled everything becomes. Pooja was at her best friend Kavita's house the night she died, but Kavita wasn't even there. So Pooja stayed over, and the only people around were Kavita's husband Ravi—who happens to be some big political shot—and the family servant. From there, Avinash has to interrogate basically everyone in Pooja's life: her friends, her family, Ravi, people connected to his political circles, and some dodgy characters named Sunny and Shrikant. Meanwhile, Kavita's lying in a coma after falling down the stairs, which adds another weird layer to the whole mess.
The investigation gets messy fast. Avinash figures out Ravi's somehow involved and that Sunny was his accomplice, but when he tries to grab them, things go sideways—Sunny gets killed by some gang rivals, and Avinash nearly bites it too. But he doesn't give up, even though he's dealing with media circus, his own department working against him, and Ravi throwing up roadblocks left and right. Eventually he pieces it all together and the real story comes out.