Aitbaar is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic thriller Dial M For Murder. Sadly and quite expectedly, the original source was not acknowledged by the makers, but the film is well attuned to an Indian context and is successfully gripping. The script is taut and complex and the film is overall very well shot and directed, with good camera work and a suitably chilling score. It is definitely a different mainstream Hindi movie for its time, as it leans more on the script and has much less melodrama and sentimentality than one would expect to see. Obviously, it includes several songs, but they are mostly situationally relevant and most of them are beautiful anyway. The acting is very good by one and all, and doubtlessly the film belongs to the ever gorgeous Dimple Kapadia, who makes for a great heroine. Confused, vulnerable and innocent, her Neha is quite different from the feisty and strong characters she does best, and Kapadia is more than effective playing the part. She is completely natural, and her fear, helplessness and uncertainty are aptly displayed. That she looks stunningly beautiful only helps and goes without saying. Raj Babbar does mostly a good job as the devious and calculating husband, though he is a bit hammy in some scenes. Suresh Oberoi is solid as Sagar, while Danny Denzongpa is excellent as the investigating officer. Overall then, Aitbaar is a highly watchable suspense thriller which is worth watching and revisiting.
Review of Aitbaar
